The Not To Distant Future
by CelticKitsune
Summary: The shadow realm is sealed, Yami’s spirit is free, Bakura and Marik have been sealed in the shadow realm for good. The natural balance of things can return to normal. So then, why after two years are things in the other realm still shifting? What are thes
1. Chapter 1

The shadow realm is sealed, Yami's spirit is free, Bakura and Marik have been sealed in the shadow realm for good. The natural balance of things can return to normal. So then, why after two years are things in the other realm still shifting? What are these shadows that the three hikari's keep seeing? And how will they deal with it without their yami's?  
Condemned

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh!

And this is my version of what happens after everything has ended. Just for the record, if I get things mixed up it's because 1. I have not completely finished watching the last season, 2. I have not read the Manga, 3. It has been so long since I have actually watched the show from the beginning that I am not sure on the time frame of how long Yugi had the puzzle. But for this fanfic's sake we shall say that he finished the puzzle when he was about 14 -

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter one: There is only darkness

Have you ever thought that life was unfair? Is it fair that people still continue to smile when you can't even force yourself to? Is it fair that the sun keeps shining when the pain in your heart tells you it should just stop? Is it fair that the life you had grown so used to was gone in the blink of an eye? Is it fair that the world keeps living when all you want to do is stop? Who would notice if you just disappeared? And why is it so easy to ask a question, but ever so hard to give a simple answer?

These were thoughts that seemed to be going through Yugi Mouto's head on a daily basis. Life was so unfair, he of course had never worded this thought. Just because he looked like a child, didn't mean he had to sound like one as well. Although he knew he was most likely acting like one. But didn't he have the right to? After all the past two years of his life had not been all that great, and recent events told him that they were not about to start getting better any time soon.

Yugi sighed as he sat behind the counter to the game shop a gold box sitting in front of him. It had been so long since the first time he had opened that golden box. He could still remember the puzzle it hat once held, and he remembered the feeling he had gotten when he'd finally completed that puzzle. He might be nearly nineteen now, but his life really had not started until he'd finished that puzzle. Some people might laugh at him if he were to actually say this, but there were people who believed him, because they had been a part of that life. 

Honda, Anzu, Seto, Ryou, Malik, Jou, and Yami. There were many others that Yugi had come to know after the puzzle had been completed, but none of them really touched his life as much as those seven people did. Yami had been the first, Yami had been the one who had really changed Yugi's life. And he had also been the closest to Yugi. After all, Yami had been the spirit trapped in the puzzle. For nearly three years Yugi had created a strong bond with the spirit of the puzzle. After all, you couldn't have a mind link with someone and not have a strong bond with them. Right around the same time the two school bullies, Jou and Honda had decided to hang around Yugi. Things started to look up from there, Yugi had friends. Anzu showed up shortly after that and joined the little group. Seto had never truly been a part of the small group of friends, but Yugi had still considered him a friend. After all the times the CEO had gotten wrapped up in their little adventures more often then not.

As for Ryou and Malik, Yugi had a bond with them mainly because they were also two holders of items similar to his puzzle. Ryou's millennium ring had held a spirit as well. Malik's Millennium rod originally did not have a spirit sealed within it. But there was now. The dark side of Malik's soul had gotten to powerful. It had taken a lot to stop Marik, but they had succeeded. Yugi could still remember it all like it was yesterday, battle city was over and the clock had started counting down to the final duel that Yami would ever play in this life.

The memory of Yami turning and walking through the door to the next world was still so vivid in Yugi's mind, he swore the light from that door had burned that image into his eyes so he wouldn't even have the choice to forget. Not that he would ever want to. Yami had been the first person that Yugi had ever truly loved with all his heart. He had never said this to Yami because it would have been near impossible to have a relationship with a spirit. But it still didn't make separating from him any easier. But, he had still had his friends. At least, he had had them for another few months. Anzu had finally been accepted to the dance school over seas she'd been trying to get into. Honda's dad had been offered a new job position in the states. Ryou had gone back to England, Malik still lived in Egypt. Seto was just as busy as always. Jou still came around at least every other day. Yugi was grateful for this because he had a feeling he never would have survived the next big blow that fate had decided to throw his way.

As his thoughts turned to this incident he looked over to the picture of him and his Grandfather standing in front of the game shop. Yugi felt his eyes filling with tears. That wound was still to deep. It had not been enough that fate had taken the person he loved, his friends, but it had to take his grandfather too.

The bell over the door wrong and Yugi quickly wiped his eyes before turning to greet his customer. He smiled a little when he saw it was Jou. The blond had grown his hair out so it was now a little past his shoulders, he had started warring leather jackets and tight jeans. The new look had suited the blond boy that Yugi couldn't really say anything against it. And considering that the blond now worked part time as a bartender it definitely suited him.

"Hey Yug." Jou said walking over to the counter. "I thought you would be closing up by now." He said and glanced at his watch. Yugi blinked and looked around at the clock.

"Yeah, I guess it is past time to close up." He said sliding off his chair. He was still shorted then Jou, but he had actually grown quite a bit in the past two years. He was now as tall as Yami had been. Yugi walked over to the door and locked it before flipping the sign to closed.

"Don't you have work tonight?" Yugi asked as he turned back to his friend. Jou shook his head.

"Nah, I got Nathan to take my shift. He needs the extra hours and I'm caught up enough on bills" Jou said with a shrug. "besides, I thought you could use some company today."

Yugi sighed. "I'm okay Jou, really."

"Yeah I know. But I also know you still miss them. I mean loosing Yami was hard enough, but exactly a year later-" Jou stopped when he saw a tear roll down Yugi's cheek. Jou sighed rubbing his head. "I guess I'll never learn when to keep my big mouth shut." He said before turning and walking over to the counter, he grabbed Yugi's coat and tossed it at him. Yugi blinked in confusion.

"Come on, we're going out." He said. "You look like you need some fresh air. We'll stop by visit gramps and then we'll go get some pizza or something." Jou said. Yugi smiled and pulled his coat on. He grabbed his wallet and keys before shutting off the lights. 

"Alright. Thank's Jou." He said as they left. Jou grinned at him helping Yugi lock up before they walked down the street.

A shadow stood in the corner of the shop once the lights were out. It watched the two boys leave before turning it's attention to the gold box left on the counter. Then to the picture. The shadow lifted it's hand.

"….yugi…" It whispered in a rough cracking voice. It picked up the picture and looked at it. Running it's hand over the picture of the young boy in the picture. Then, just as if a wind had blown it away, the shadow was gone. The picture falling to the floor. The glass cracking as it landed. 

Yugi sat on Jou's couch laughing. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard, let along the last time he'd actually gone over to his best friends house just to hang out. Jou pealed off his now soaking wet shirt.

"Damn defective soda cans. They're out to get me I swear." He said tossing his short onto his old gym bag. He looked at Yugi and grinned. "Now that's the Yugi I remember." He said as he sat back down. Yugi smiled back at him as he got his laughter under control.

"You're supposed to make sure the can hasn't been shaken up before you open it." Yugi said as he opened his can and all it did was hiss a little. Jou glared at Yugi's can of soda as if it were a traitor. Yugi took a peace of pizza and bit into it. He looked around Jou's apartment. Nothing had changed since the last time he'd been over here a few months ago.

"It's nice to see that something will always be the same." He said taking another bite of his pizza. Jou looked at him smiling a little. 

"Yug, you know I'll never change. I'm not smart enough to." Jou said with a grin. Yugi sighed shaking his head. "Look Yug, I know things are hard but they're bound to start going up hill sooner or later." Jou said as he picked up his exploded soda and took a sip.

"I know Jou. Things are never as bad as they seem. But things look a lot different when you're the one stuck in the middle." Yugi leaned back on the couch running his hand through his hair. "I just wish, I could go back, even for a single day have things the way they were before."

"You know, I used to wish the same thing when my parents split up." Jou said. Yugi looked at him and blinked. "I couldn't understand why they had split up. And I couldn't understand why I had to live with my dad, and Serenity had to stay with mom. But things happen for a reason, you might not be able to see the reason now but maybe later when you look back on things you'll see why they had to happen the way they did. If my parents had never split up, me and my dad never would have come to Domino, and if I had never come here I wouldn't have met you. I never would have had a great teacher when I wanted to learn duel monsters, and I never would have made it through Duelist kingdom. And gotten the money for my sister's operation." Jou said. "See, things happen for a reason. We might not like the way things have to happen. But they always seem to work out for the best in the end." Jou took a big swallow from his soda as Yugi sat there staring at him as if he'd never seen Jou before in his life. 

"I…never thought of it that way." Yugi said looking down at his lap. What Jou said held a lot of truth to it. Yugi had to look at things differently, look at the bright side of things. After all, wasn't that what Yami had taught him to do? And his grandfather as well//Just thing of this as another challenge you have to over come.// The voice in the back of Yugi's mind said. "Thank you Jou." Yugi said and finished his pizza. And he was reminded yet again how lucky he was that he still had Jou with him. 

The apartment was pitch black as Yugi made his way inside. He was exhausted and didn't bother turning on the lights as he undressed leaving his coat hanging on the chair in the living room. He'd pick up his mess in the morning, right now he was to tired to care. He fell onto his bed already falling asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The shadow from before appeared next to Yugi's bed and stared at him. It's hand stretched out brushing some of Yugi's hair out of his face. "Yugi." He said in that same rough voice that sounded as if it hadn't been used in a long time. "Yugi."

Yugi whimpered and rolled over onto his back. The shadow stared at him and then looked around the room. Sitting on Yugi's desk was his deck of duel monsters. The desk looked as if it had not been touched in a long time, a thin layer of dust covered everything on the desk, including the cards. The shadow picked up the card on top. The Dark Magician.

"…hmmm…yami…" Yugi whimpered in his sleep making the shadow turn around to look at him again. The shadow walked back over and sat on the side of the bed still holding the Dark Magician card. Putting the card on Yugi's chest the shadow leaned over so his face was level with Yugi's. "Yugi." it said again. Yugi's eyes opened a fraction. The shadow chuckled still very close to Yugi. Yugi was instantly awake, his eyes snapped open, but as they did, the shadow vanished as quickly as a dream. Yugi sat up and looked around the room quickly, everything was the same, except…Yugi looked down and saw his dark magician card sitting on his lap. Yugi had not touched his deck since his grandfather died, so he knew he had not put the card there.

The sound of someone chuckling still echoed softly in his ears making the hair on the back of Yugi's neck stand on end. Someone had definitely been in here. Yugi looked at his door, it was still closed, as were his windows, whoever had been in his room had literally vanished. Yugi swallowed hard staring at the card in his hand. Yugi got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The person who had been in his room could not have been from this realm. //A shadow…// Yugi thought, that's all he'd seen when he'd opened his eyes. But he hadn't been fully awake.

//Are you sure you saw what you think you saw?// He asked himself. He had been tired when he came in. Maybe it had been a dream after all//Then what about the card?// He asked and held up the card to look at it. "I…picked it up before I went to bed…." he said. "That must be what happened…It can't mean…it couldn't have been a shadow creature. We stopped the shadow games, the shadow realm is sealed." Yugi told himself firmly. "Everything in there is trapped and isn't coming back." He said and stood up going over to the desk and putting the card back on top of his deck. He stared at the things on his desk for a moment before turning to head back to bed.

"…don't get your hopes up again Yugi." He told himself. "Stop living in the past…things will never get better if you don't stop this foolishness." He said rolling over and hugging his pillow. A tear rolled down his cheek as he held it tightly. "…and stop talking to yourself…there's no one there to answer you any more." He berried his face in his pillow. A peaceful night sleep now lost. //One last night of wishful dreams// He told himself as he drifted to sleep. His mind retreating to his dreams where everyone was still there, and Yami had never left, he had gotten his own body once his memories had returned. And he and Yugi could now be together forever.

From where he sat on the thrown looking down into the smooth surface of the water. Yami watched Yugi with sad eyes.

"My Pharaoh. I do not think this wise, you may give the boy false hope." The person to the right of Yami said. 

"I am giving myself more false hope then I shall ever give Yugi." Yami said and watched Yugi cry himself to sleep. He stood up and walked down to the water. "Besides, if what I have hard is true, then I must do this. To restore balance it must be done."

"Of course my pharaoh. Will you continue your search for the two lost souls within the realm of darkness?" The person asked looking at Yami. Yami continued to watch Yugi in silence for a long moment before nodding.

"The sooner I find them, the sooner I can set things right." With that Yami turned leaving the room, his servant followed quickly.

TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh!

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter two: Into the shadows

The sun was shining brightly though the window as Yugi tried his best to block it out. He was in no mood to get out of bed today. He'd had a restless sleep and was still to tired to function. He had decided when he'd woken up again at two am, four am, and six am that there was no way he'd be opening the game shop that day. Yugi sighed deciding that fighting the sun was a loosing battle he looked over at his clock and frowned. It was nearly eleven thirty in the morning. Why did it not feel that late? Yugi wondered but rolled out of bed anyway.

He stumbled to the bathroom still half asleep and wishing he could sleep longer. A nice cold shower would wake him up. He was half way to the bathroom however when the phone started ringing. Yugi took the detour out to the living room.

"'ello?" Yugi answered the phone fighting a yawn.

"Hello Yugi." Yugi nearly dropped the phone.

"Malik!?" Yugi yelped now fully awake. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard that voice. After Yami had left Yugi had lost touch with the people who lived in a different country. Yugi sat down on the stool next to the phone and leaned his back against the wall. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting it to be you." Yugi said with a small sigh.

"I know Yugi. We don't talk nearly as often as we should. After all we've been through." Malik sighed as well. "But I thought it would be nice to call and say hello." Malik said but his voice was drowned out by a rather loud sound that made Yugi sit up. 

"Malik…where are you?" Yugi asked as he sat up strait. 

"I am actually at the Domino air port. I tried calling before I left yesterday but there was no answer. Kaiba is coming to pick me up and I have a hotel near the game shop." Malik said and Yugi for the second time felt his spirits lifting. Malik was in town. "I thought I'd also let you know." Malik continued. "That Ryou should be here by tomorrow as well."

"What?! Ryou's coming here too!?" Yugi asked jumping out of his seat. Then he stopped as a thought struck him. Why was Ryou coming here? And why had Malik come here? Surly if they had just been coming to visit they would have called and planned it out with him and Jou since they were really the only people in Japan that the two boys knew.

"Malik, what's going on?" Yugi asked. And could instantly tell his thoughts were right when Malik fell silent. The only sound coming through the phone were the planes landing and taking off. "Malik?"

"I can't really explain Yugi…not over the phone at least. I'll call you when I get to my hotel and get settled." Malik said and Yugi nodded even though the blond Egyptian couldn't see him.

"Alright…" He said. "I've got a few things I have to get done today…" Yugi lied.

"Alright Yugi, I have to go. Kaiba's driver is here to pick me up." Malik said. Yugi staid on the phone until he heard the soft 'click' and then the line go dead. He slowly hung up his hands shaking. He had a good feeling what Malik wanted to talk about.

"No…it was only a dream." Yugi told himself firmly. What he'd seen last night could not have been real. He headed to the kitchen deciding to take his shower after he ate. Yugi spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon trying to convince himself that what he'd seen the night before was a dream. The shadow realm was sealed and could not be opened. All shadow magic was gone form the world. After all, wasn't that the reason why Yami had left?

Yugi had decided to spend his day straitening up the game shop. It had been a while since he'd gone through everything. He got his pad of paper and pen to start taking inventory. As he did however, he noticed that a lot of the games the shop still carried were out dated. He'd have to fix that. He'd set a sale up in a couple weeks he decided and made a note of it so he wouldn't forget. As he was just finishing up however he heard a loud crash from upstairs.

Yugi froze on the spot and stared at the ceiling. He looked out side, the sun was setting, but it was still fairly bright outside. //who would brake into a house when it's still day light out?// Yugi asked as he set the pad of paper down and headed upstairs slowly. There was another crash and Yugi froze again. It sounded like whoever it was, was looking for something. Yugi continued on his way upstairs more slowly. He reached the living room and looked around, there was no one there. He turned to head towards the kitchen when he heard a third crash coming from inside his room. Yugi looked around before pulling his old baseball bat out of the closet. If he was going in there he wouldn't be unarmed. Slowly making his way towards the door he put his hand on the handle but snatched it away quickly. It was cold, unnaturally so. He looked at the door again and felt as if all the warmth had been sucked out of the whole house. It was then he noticed the darkness that seemed to be leaking from the cracks around his door.

//No, this can NOT be happening!// Yugi told himself and to prove it he opened the door to his bedroom and froze in the door at what he saw. His room was engulfed in darkness, the same shadow figure he had seen the night before stood in the center, Yugi's personal items flying around the room as the shadow turned towards him.

"Yugi" the shadow called in such a way that chilled Yugi to the bone. "Where is it?" The shadow sounded angry now and it was coming towards him. Yugi stepped back his voice frozen in his throat his mind screaming that this couldn't possibly be real. The shadow was now reaching for Yugi. "Yugi." It said again and Yugi backed up more. Reacting the only way he could he threw the bat at the shadow that just laughed as it passed right through him. Yugi turned and ran back down the stairs. He didn't bother looking back to see if the shadow was following him. He ran out of the game and ran down the street as fast as he could. He didn't know what that thing was, but he knew that it would not be safe to stay there and find out. He turned the corner ready to continue sprinting, but the body he ran into prevented him from doing that. Yugi looked up quickly half expecting to see the shadow standing there.

"Whoa! What's the matter Yug? You look like you've just seen a ghost!" Jou said holding his hand out to help Yugi up. Yugi took it his eyes drifting to the person standing next to Jou. Malik was looking at Yugi a very serious expression on his face.

"The shadow, you saw it." It was more of a statement then a question, because the answer was written all over Yugi's face. However Yugi still nodded.

"Yes! It…it was in my room, it was looking for something." Yugi said ignoring the bewildered look Jou was giving the two of them. "It reached for me. The only thing I could think to do was run, so I did." Yugi said. Malik nodded looking a little relived at that.

"You were lucky." Malik said. "It actually did grab Ryou."

"Ryou saw it too!?" Yugi asked eyes widening even more. Malik nodded and looked around.

"I think, we should go back to the hotel. Yugi, I don't think you should go back to the game shop, and definitely not alone." Yugi nodded and Malik made to turn and start back in the direction he and Jou had been coming from.

"You know, I thought now that you guys didn't have the items any more I'd be able to actually follow a conversation for once." He said following them.

"Sorry Jou." Malik said giving him an apologetic smile. "I'll explain what I know once we're back at the hotel." He looked at Yugi who was giving worried glances over his shoulder every few steps. "It won't follow us. It can only appear in places where a strong power once existed."

"But…why the game shop?"

"It's where you first freed Yami isn't it?" Malik asked and Yugi nodded, it made since, but it didn't stop him from looking over his shoulder all the way to the hotel. Even when they reached it Yugi felt as if he hadn't gotten far enough away from the shadow. Malik held the door open for them and Yugi walked into the penthouse and stopped.

"The penthouse?" He looked at Malik who shrugged.

"Okay, so I plan on actually staying for white a while…the hotel rooms they had here were to small. Not to mention they insisted on it. My sister is almost as well known as Kaiba is." Malik said with a small grin. He closed the door and ran his hand over the back of it. Yugi watched hieroglyphs appear on the back of the door. "An…extra precaution." Malik said turning back to Yugi and Jou.

"So, now do I get to know what's going on?" Jou asked, Yugi nodded his agreement, although he'd just seen something his mind still insisted wasn't possible, he was still fairly clueless about what was going on himself. But he could make an educated guess. Malik looked at the two of them and sighed, walking passed them he stared out the large window.

"Someone is trying to open the shadow realm." Malik said.

"Wait, I thought Yami fixed all that" Jou said frowning.

"I thought he had too." Malik looked at the two standing there and motioned for them to sit down. Jou chose the reclining chair and Yugi sat on the couch, well, more like fell on the couch. It was obvious he was still a little shaken up.

"I can't explain everything that's going on, just what I know." Malik said and looked at Yugi. "That shadow you saw today. To my knowledge it is a shadow monster that was never given the chance to fully develop before it was cast into the shadow realm." Yugi frowned and nodded. He hadn't actually been witness to it first hand, but he had heard about what the millennium items had been used or back in Egypt. 

"But…how did it get out of the shadow realm?" Yugi asked. Malik shook his head.

"If I knew that I wouldn't be here…but I do know what he's looking for." He said sitting down in his own chair. Yugi stared at him.

"The Millennium items" Yugi said, he didn't know how he knew. But It was really the only logical thing that anyone from the shadow realm would be looking for. Malik nodded.

"That is what I believe. But because they have been locked away again it's not possible for anyone to get to them. There's to much magic protecting them this time. And Shadi won't let anyone else get them."

"Shadi?" Jou asked. "Oh, that guy in the bathrobe. I remember him. Are you sure he'll do his job? He didn't seem to helpful when I met him." Jou said frowning.

"I know Shadi won't let anyone near the items. It's his job to protect them. That is the job Ra himself appointed him for all eternity. And spirit or not, he fears the wrath of the gods." Malik said. Malik glanced over when Yugi stood up and walked to the window and looked out.

"So Ryou's coming here tomorrow?" Yugi asked. Malik nodded.

"He should be. Kaiba is sending a plane to go pick him up." Malik said.

"How come Kaiba's helping you out so much?" Jou asked frowning at Malik. "Last I checked he still wasn't to happy that you ruined his battle city tournament."

"He's seen the shadow too. The last thing he wants is to get wrapped up in all this shadow realm stuff again. But this time around he was a little easier to convince."

"After what happened last time I bet he would be." Jou said grinning and leaning back in his chair. "So we have someone trying to open up the shadow realm, no idea who it is. Is there at least a way to stop him?" Jou asked. Malik sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know, that is one reason me and Ryou are coming here, because the shadow seems to be targeting old item holders. And…" Malik trailed off looking down. "It hasn't been in the news or anything, because no one is sure how it happened…but I went to visit Maximizing Pegasus. Because I knew he used to hold the millennium eye….and…" Malik stopped talking for a moment staring at his hands. Yugi had turned back to look at his old friend frowning.

"And what?" Yugi asked not sure he really wanted to know.

"He's dead. That's why I thought it would be safer for us if we were all together, where I can at least put a few old protection spells up. I just hope that Ryou gets here safely." Malik said putting his head in his hands. Yugi looked back out the window and let his thoughts wonder. He wondered what would happen next. How long would they run from the shadow creature before it finally caught up with them? Would they be killed too? Yugi was so deep in thought that he nearly jumped five feet when he heard Malik's cell phone ring.

"Hello?" Malik asked as he picked up the phone. "Oh, hey Ryou. Yeah Yugi's here. Yeah, he saw it too. No he got away. How's your arm? Don't worry, we'll see what we can do once you get here. I know, try and get some rest. Did you put up those spells I told you about? That should help keep the shadow out. Yeah I filled Yugi in. We'll talk more when you get here. You just get some rest. Alright." Malik hung up and looked over at Yugi who was staring at him. "I told you, you were lucky the shadow didn't touch you. Ryou…wasn't so lucky." Malik put his phone away. "I haven't seen his arm, he said it doesn't look bad but he can't move it at all."

"He…he's alright though. Isn't he?" Yugi asked.

"He said he's alright. But he's still scared." Yugi nodded understanding that. He could still feel the fear when he thought about the shadow. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if the thing had actually managed to grab him. Malik stood up and headed to the kitchen.

"I think I'll make some dinner." He said. Jou looked at Yugi who nodded. They both headed to the kitchen to help Malik. All of them silently hoping that they could find something else to talk about for a few hours.

Ryou looked at his phone as he hung up with Malik. He had hardly slept in two days since his attack, every time he closed his eyes he could still see that shadow. It's voice still echoing in his ears. //Give it to me, and I will set him free.// Ryou shook his head. At first he didn't know who the shadow had been talking about. Until Malik had clarified that the shadow was indeed from the shadow realm. The only person that Ryou knew that the shadow could also know about would be his yami. A lot of people would be confused if they found out that Ryou actually did miss Bakura. No one else had seen, or felt what was truly in Bakura's heart.

Ryou had agreed to help Bakura find the millennium items, because Ryou had known that in the end Bakura would have truly been free. If he had had the choice to go through all that pain again to make sure that Bakura made it to the final duel with Yami, he would willingly do it all again. Though having his yami locked in the shadow realm wasn't really his idea of 'setting him free'. But at least he wasn't being controlled by that shadow monster any more.

Ryou sighed and laid down on his bed clutching his injured arm to his chest. He couldn't fight sleep forever, the spells were in place, the shadow couldn't get to him. So a couple hours of sleep wouldn't hurt. That was Ryou's last thought before he fell into darkness. 

Ryou opened his eyes to find himself standing in the shadows. It was cold, and dark here. "…h…hello?" He called weakly. His voice didn't echo like he had expected it to. It was as if this place was truly nothingness. He shivered as he looked around trying to find something, anything. All he saw was darkness, and shadows. Only, the shadows seemed to be moving. This scared Ryou more then anything.

"hello?" He called again backing away from the shadows. As he backed away his foot connected with something and he fell over backwards. Looking down his eyes widened when he saw none other then Bakura laying there looking pale and cold. Ryou shifted around so he was now on his knees next to his yami shaking him.

"Bakura? Wake up, Bakura!" Bakura didn't move at all. Ryou looked back at the shadows that seemed to be closing in around him. He looked back down quickly when he felt something grab onto his wrist. Bakura had woken up. However, it was not Bakura. It was the shadow, it had taken the form of Bakura and now had Ryou's arm in it's icy grip.

"Where is it?" The shadow asked, Bakura's face melting away into shadows. "You know what I seek! Where is it!?" The shadow hissed it's other hand coming up moving to touch Ryou's chest. Ryou screamed, not from pain, but from fear. The next thing Ryou knew the screams from the shadows mixed with his as a blinding light filled the space. Ryou was now sitting on his bed looking around for the shadows that had just been there. They were all gone, and the light was still filled with that strange light. He looked down at his chest where it seemed to be coming from. What he saw nearly made him fall out of bed, there where it had hung for so long only two years ago, sat, once again, the millennium ring. 

"Ryou." A voice said. Ryou's head snapped up. This time he really did fall out of bed. Standing there in his room was Yami. And next to him stood Bakura who really did look like he'd seen better days. "You have seen what is happening." Yami said. Ryou nodded still staring from his new position on the floor.

"Am I still dreaming?" Ryou asked. Yami chuckled and shook his head. 

"no, I'm afraid not." Yami stepped forward and put his hand on Ryou's arm. It was warm and comforting, the feeling seemed to spared through Ryou's whole body. "The shadow realm is open. I no longer have a connection with Yugi, and I cannot use the puzzles power because he no longer has it." Yami explained answering the questions that were going through Ryou's head.

"But…the ring…"

"Yes, even though the holders of the items may give them up. Or may loose possession of them. The items only have one true owner. Making it possible to call the item to you, no matter where it is. You were in danger, the ring sensed the danger and came to you." Yami said taking his hand away from Ryou's arm now. "And in doing so, you also helped me find Bakura in the shadow realm." Yami held up his hand when Ryou opened his mouth. "I do not have time to explain any more. Me and Bakura must go. There are still things we must do." Yami said and stood up stepping back. Now it was Bakura's turn to step forward. He still didn't say anything as he looked down at Ryou.

"Bakura…?" Ryou stared up at him. Bakura held up a finger and touched it to Ryou's forehead. "Forget this meeting little one." He said. "It is not time for you, or the others to know yet." He said. Ryou's eyes went wide before rolling into the back of his head. He slumped over on the floor. Bakura continued to look at him.

"Someone will find him. Come Bakura." Yami said and only smiled at the glare that Bakura gave him. The two of them vanished just as there was a knock on the door.

TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter three: Light without Dark

Yami and Bakura walked through the shadows looking around. The shadow realm had changed so much since Yami had sealed it two years ago. Before it had the appearance of a waste land covered in darkness. Now there were shadows everywhere, it was near imposable to tell where you were going.

"Are you sure Marik is in this direction?" Yami asked looking back at Bakura who glared at him.

"How the hell should I know? Every direction looks the same. I would have still been with Marik had my light not been in danger. Unlike you, pharaoh, I am still bound to the millennium ring."

"Well, that explains how you appeared and we were able to become visible in the realm of the living." Yami said and continued walking.

"You know, you've spent to much time dead." Bakura said shoving his hands in his pockets. "The realm of the living." Bakura said doing a poor copy of Yami's voice.

"And you, have spent to much time in the shadow realm. You seem to be more foul tempered then you used to." Yami shot back.

"And who's bloody fault is that!?" He snapped his temper rising. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't-

"Weren't for the fact that you tried to destroy the world." Yami cut across him.

"Rule the world, not destroy. There's a difference. If I wanted something destroyed I would have just come to the shadow realm in the first place." Bakura grumbled. Yami just smiled and continued walking. Now that Bakura didn't have a monster controlling him Yami found him much more amusing. "And who says I won't try to take over the world again once I get out of here?" Bakura asked.

"It doesn't matter, you can try all you want. But once we get out of here, you will be just as human as everyone else. And the fact that someone else is controlling the shadow realm at the moment, I highly doubt anyone here will listen to you."

"I could join forces with whoever is opening up the shadow realm again." Bakura shot back making Yami chuckle.

"Bakura, if you were actually going to do something like that, you wouldn't be telling me." Yami said and looked around again trying to see if he could spot Marik anywhere. Yami figured he would be easy to spot, because not many Egyptians had blond spiky hair like Marik did. He was just about to start walking again when Bakura grabbed his arm.

"Over there" He pointed. Yami looked to where Bakura was pointing and frowned. He couldn't see anything at first. But then he saw a figure walking through the shadows. He couldn't see it clearly, but there was only one person it could be. The voice that reached their ears conformed their suspicions that it was indeed Marik.

"Bakura you fucking ass! Where did you disappear to!?" Marik shouted as he stormed towards the other two yamis. "And what in the name of Ra are you doing with that spiky haired freak!?" He asked when he caught sight of Yami. Yami and Bakura walked towards Marik meeting him half way.

"Spiky haired freak? You're one to talk." Yami's eyes drifted up to look at Marik's hair as he said this. 

"Shut up lightning head." Marik said and then looked at Bakura who just shrugged.

"I kind of had no choice in the matter. The ring returned to Ryou." Bakura said. Marik's eyes widened.

"Great! Now you can at least get out of here." Marik said crossing his arms. "I'm still stuck here until Malik comes to his senses and gets the rod back. And…why are you shaking your head at me Pharaoh?" He asked glaring at Yami again.

"Bakura can get out of here now. But none of us leave until the three of us can leave together."

"Why the hell do you think I'd want to go anywhere with you? It's your damn fault that we're stuck here in the first place Pharaoh!" Marik shouted.

"It's either all three of us, or none at all." Yami said. Marik looked at Bakura who just shrugged.

"He's refused to explain anything to me until we found you. Hence the reason I was following him around."

"And here I thought you were looking for me just because you missed me." Marik smirked slightly, but it was gone just as quick when he looked back at Yami. "So, are you going to start explaining now?"

"I am sure you are quite aware that our lights have been the targets of the shadows." Yami said. Marik nodded looking impatient. "The only reason for that is because they are three hikari's."

"Who lost their yamis." Bakura finished frowning.

"Exactly, making them very tempting targets for the shadows. Even if one of us were to go back, the other two would still be in danger. However, there is nothing we can do until Malik and Yugi get their items back."

"That will work for me and Bakura. But you are no longer bound to the puzzle." Marik pointed out.

"That is where Bakura comes in." Yami said. "He put part of his soul in the puzzle once when it was smashed." Yami said and Bakura looked at him with wide eyes. Yami couldn't keep the smile from his face. "If someone put part of their soul into the ring, don't you think you'd notice it?" Yami asked.

"Yes, but I'm not stupid enough to let that happen."

"I could have gotten you out of there any time I wanted. After all, it was only a peace of your soul trapped in there. But something told me I should leave it alone, so I did. End of story. But, that peace of your soul should still be attached to the puzzle. When you go back, you are going to bring me with you and if I am correct the puzzle will recognize my spirit and I will be resealed to the puzzle."

"So then we all become sealed spirits again?" Marik asked making it all to obvious that he didn't like the thought of being trapped in the rod again.

"Only for a short time. We will still be bound to the items, but there is a forbidden spell that was erased from all records that has the power to give spirit's a solid form again." Yami looked at the other two who were now looking at each other as if trying to imagine the possibilities of being on earth with their own bodies again.

"So, if it was erased, how is it that you know about it?" Marik asked his eyes narrowing, refusing to get his hopes up just yet. Yami shrugged.

"I am the great pharaoh, am I not?" Yami asked looking amused. "Being dead, you can actually have a real conversation with Ra. He agreed there was no other way, and gave me the spell. Once it is used it will be erased from my memory so I won't be temped to use it again. The dead were never meant to come back to life."

"But we three seem to be the exception to that rule." Bakura grinned. As did Marik.

"If you think about it, we seem to be the exception to many rules." Marik chuckled darkly. Yami rolled his eyes and turned away from the other two. He had explained things to them, now, the only thing they could do was wait. Yami of course could go back to the spirit realm and wait for things to unfold there where he could also keep an eye on Yugi and the others. But Marik and Bakura, they had never been judged so would not be permitted to enter. And if they were to be judged when arriving Yami had no doubt in his mind that they would be sent strait to Set. No, he would wait here with the other two, wait for the millennium items to call their spirits. Yami just hoped it didn't take to long for it to happen.

Ryou could hear voices, they sounded familiar but who did they belong to? It couldn't have been his father, he was still on a dig. But who else could it be? Everyone else he knew was in Japan. //But wait, wasn't I going to Japan?// Ryou asked himself. His eyes flew open and he looked over to where the voices were coming from. There standing by the door to his room was Yugi, Malik, Jou and Seto.

"I thought you were supposed to have people watching him Kaiba." Jou snapped glaring at the man that was still a head taller then Jou. 

"Just because I give an order, doesn't mean that people always follow it. You are living proof of that." Kaiba shot back not looking to worried about Jou's temper. Yugi rolled his eyes. 

"Will you two stop it. You'd think that after two years you'd be able to at least have a civilized conversation once in a while."

"I can." Jou said and pointed at Seto. "It's not my fault he still acts all high and mighty just because he has his own company and thinks he's smarter then the rest of us!" Yugi sighed shaking his head.

"I guess some things really never will change." However, Malik didn't miss the small smile Yugi had as he said this. And he couldn't help but agree. Change was never an easy thing to deal with, but having something familiar around always made the change a little more bearable. Malik looked over at the bed and blinked when he saw that Ryou was awake, and sitting up watching them.

"Morning." Ryou said softly. Malik went over and hugged Ryou.

"We were worried about you." He said. Yugi stood back watching Ryou and Malik. Even though all three of them knew the burden of owning a millennium item, Ryou and Malik had had an extra burden to carry. So it was little wonder that they were really good friends.

"I'm alright." Ryou reassured him smiling a little more. He looked around. "What happened? Last thing I remember was….hanging up with you." Ryou said and looked at Malik.

"We don't know…someone found you passed out in your room on Kaiba's ship. And…' Malik trailed off looking back at Yugi.

"And you were warring this." Yugi said holding up the millennium ring. Ryou's eyes widened as he stared at the all to familiar ring.

"But…how…I gave it back to you." Ryou said looking at Malik. "I was there when they were sealed away again…how did it get here?" Malik shook his head.

"We don't know. We were hoping you could answer that. But you seem just as clueless as the rest of us." Malik sighed sitting down on the edge of Ryou's bed and looked at the ring. Yugi walked over still holding the ring and held it out to Ryou.

"Until we figure this out…I think it would be best if you held onto it." He said. Ryou looked at the ring and slowly took it.

"It's strange…" he said as he put the rope around his neck letting the ring rest on his chest. "…It's as if…I can still sense Bakura." He said softly putting his hand on the ring and closing his eyes. This of course worried Yugi a little. Having only seen how evil Bakura could be it was only natural that the smaller boy was a little nervous. This went unnoticed by Ryou however. "But, he's really gone. Even having the ring with me won't bring him back." He said sighing and opening his eyes. Malik smiled at him and brushed some hair out of Ryou's face.

"I know what you mean." He said and then looked at the others. "Well, now that we're all here we should try and think what we should do next."

"I vote we order pizza!" Jou said grinning making everyone in the look at him. However, it was Seto who chuckled. 

"Always thinking with your stomach." he said an amused smirk on his face. "It's a small wonder you ever won any duels." He said. Jou glared at him.

"And what's that supposed to mean!? I can still duel just as well as the next person!" He snapped.

"It depends on what 'next person' you're talking about. Surely it can't be anyone in this room. If my memory is correct you have never beaten any of us in a duel before." Seto watched as Jou's face turned an angry red.

"Is that a challenge! I can beat you right here and now!" Jou shouted. Seto however didn't seem at all interested as he petted Jou's head and left the room.

"I'll call for some take out, that should shut the pup up for a little while." Jou screamed in frustration and stormed after Seto still shouting. Yugi went and closed the door drowning out the two of them. Shaking his head he turned back to Ryou and Malik. Both of them looked like they had been trying to contain their laughter.

"They fight like an old married couple." Malik sniggered.

"They were like that when I first transferred to Domino school." Ryou said smiling.

"They've always been like that I think." Yugi said. "Ever since Kaiba first showed up in class. I remember watching them for most of high school. They never got along at all. But Kaiba always enjoyed getting a rise out of Jou. I think they really do like each other, but have been fighting to long that it's more of a habit now." Yugi said sitting down in a chair next to Ryou's bed as the three of them lapsed into silence. Yugi was staring at Ryou's ring, his eyes drifting down to Ryou's arm that still had bandages on it.

"Oh! That's right. Ryou, how is your arm doing?" Yugi asked looking up to meet brown eyes. Ryou blinked and looked down at his own arm as if just remembering that it was supposed to be injured.

"It…actually doesn't hurt any more. And I've been able to move it since I woke up." he said lifting his arm and taking off the bandages. There were what seemed to be a large scar in the shape of a hand. 

"That's…where it grabbed you?" Yugi asked. Ryou nodded shuddering as Malik traced his finger over it.

"What did it feel like?" Yugi asked. He was curious, having been so close to being grabbed by the shadow himself.

"I don't know." Ryou said truthfully. "It wasn't hot, or cold. It was just….pain. Like all the pain I've ever felt in my entire life had been concentrated to that one spot…" Ryou said trailing off. Yugi swallowed trying to imagine what something like that would feel like. It was impossible, but Yugi did know he hoped he would never have to feel that. He hoped they could stop whoever opened the shadow realm, and send the shadow back before anyone else had to feel that kind of pain.

"I think we should head out there before Jou and Seto kill each other." Malik said standing up. Ryou nodded and got out of bed. Yugi stood up with the other two. Despite the fact he knew what was going on with the shadow realm, he couldn't help but feel grateful for it. He had his friends around him again, and he couldn't help but feel a little happy that once again someone was trying to use the shadow realm to get the millennium items.

TBC 


	4. Chapter 4

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter four: Shadow eclipse of the heart

A hooded figure stood by a small pool of water staring into it. No one could see his face, but by his still movements it was easy to tell that he was extremely pissed off. "How did this happen?" He asked raising his head slightly but the hood still blocked his face from view.

"…m…my lord." A girl stepped forward kneeling down her head bowed. The man standing by the water looked at her.

"Speak." He said still trying to contain his anger at the recent failure. The millennium items were his main goal, but he also knew he could not reach this goal until he had the three hikari's. He'd known Malik would be trouble. Yugi, though small, was always more trouble then he was worth. Ryou had surprisingly been the 'weaker' of the group. But even that had turned out to be a failure.

"My lord." The girl said again keeping her head bowed. "The hikari's can no longer be reached from the outside." She said.

"I have been watching." The man snapped sounding irritated that someone dare point out the obvious to him. The girl shrank back.

"Forgive me. I was merely making an observation my lord. That perhaps there may be a way to get to them…from the inside?" She asked suggestively. There was a long silence and the girl was half afraid she had over stepped her boundaries. Until she heard a soft chuckle. 

"That is a wise idea." The man said turning his attention back to the water and ran his hand over it. "A very wise idea. And I know just how to do it."

Ryou sat on the couch absently running his finger over his ring. Yugi and Malik were sitting in separate chairs. The three of them had been trying to figure out exactly HOW Ryou had gotten his millennium ring back when it had been sealed away with the other items.

"This really doesn't make any sense at all." Malik sighed shaking his head. They had gone over Ryou's story at least a dozen times and none of them could figure it out.

"I'm not even sure if the shadow was even there." Ryou said for at least the third time. "I just…I remember a bright light and everything after that is kind of fuzzy." Ryou said frowning feeling bad that he couldn't tell them more. He knew that SOMETHING else had happened, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember.

"The bright light must have been from the ring." Malik said. "That much is for certain, but it doesn't explain HOW it got here." the three of them sat in silence for a few moments before Yugi finally spoke up. 

"What if." He said, Ryou and Malik turning their attention to him. "What if the shadow really was there?" Yugi asked. "And the ring…I don't know just appeared there? The millennium items were made from shadow creatures." Malik looked thoughtful for a moment.

"If that were true, then how come Ryou didn't end up with the ring when he had been attacked the first time? Or how come the puzzle didn't return to you when you were almost attacked." Malik pointed out. "It would make more sense that way." Yugi sighed leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. Why was it that everything that had to do with the shadow realm was an endless maze of questions. If you could answer one you'd end up with ten more. Yugi jumped when he heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen Jou could be heard shouting.

"I KNOW how to cook Kaiba! I don't need your damn help!!" Yugi sighed shaking his head. Seto and Jou had been at each others throats since Ryou had shown up the day before. It had been late by the time Seto had arrived with Ryou, and Malik had let him stay the night. Jou of course had also staid. Yugi should have known then that it was going to lead to trouble. First had been the fight over who was going to be sleeping on sofa and who could get the floor. Malik had only really planned on Ryou and Yugi staying with him so there were only three bedrooms. Yugi had offered his bed to Jou, but the blond had refused.

Yugi had left Seto and Jou fighting over the couch, and had found them both sleeping on the floor that morning. Seto had been in a foul mood and as usual, had used Jou to vent.

Yugi turned to look at Malik as the blond Egyptian stood up. "I'd rather they not destroy the kitchen." He said and headed in there. Ryou and Yugi looked at each other and also moved to stand up to go see if they could help. It was then that the kitchen door slammed open and Jou came storming out looking extremely pissed.

"Jou?" Yugi asked. Jou ignored him as he stormed out of the penthouse slamming the door behind him. Yugi stood up and went to go after him. 

"Wait Yugi!" Ryou said jumping up and catching him before he could leave too. "What about the shadows?" He asked. Yugi frowned, he wanted to say he didn't care about the shadows. Jou was his friend, and had been there for him for the past two years when no one else had. But the memory of the shadow reaching for him came to the front of his mind and he shuddered stepping away from the door. 

Ryou let go of Yugi's arm slowly. "I...I'm sorry." He said softly. Yugi shook his head managing to give Ryou a small smile. 

"Don't be." He said. "I'd rather not take the chance of being attacked by the shadow again." He said and walked away from the door thinking that Jou would come back when he had cooled off a bit. Ryou watched as Yugi made his way to the kitchen as well before he turned and headed to the window. He stood there staring at the sky. The sun was bright and it looked like it was a beautiful day. Ryou sighed and slowly turned to also head into the kitchen, when the scar on his arm suddenly throbbed painfully the shadow of something moving quickly passed the window. Ryou turned quickly to see what it was, but he didn't see anything. He swallowed hard hoping that it was just is imagination, but quickly headed to the kitchen none the less.

Jou marched down the street his hands shoved in his pockets. He didn't know where he was going, and he didn't really care. As long as he got far away from Kaiba for at least a few hours he would be fine. 

"ch' damn Kaiba." He grumbled under his breath as he stopped at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change. His thoughts drifting back to what had happened in the kitchen.

memory  
Jou stood by the stove turning the burner on and getting everything he would need from the fridge. He'd turned his back for only a few seconds before he heard a soft 'click'. Turning back he saw Seto now standing by the stove. He had turned the burner off.

"Oi! What the hell you do that for?" Jou asked leaving the fridge open and going to turn the burner back on.

"You'll burn the place down that way." Seto said coolly. "Try getting the stuff you need first." He said walking around Jou and going over to the fridge getting out the milk and closing it. Jou stood there glaring at him and went back over to the fridge and got everything he was going to use and set it out on the counter. He glanced at Seto who was drinking his milk but still seemed to be watching him. Jou shuddered and turned his back on Seto so he could make some fried rice. Jou turned the burner back on and started cooking. But he could still feel Seto's eyes on him.

"What exactly are you making?" Seto asked. "It doesn't look very edible." Seto said after a few moments of watching Jou.

"So? It's not like YOU'RE the one that's going to be eating it." Jou said not looking at him. "I'm making it for Malik, Yugi and Ryou." He said and continued cooking.

"I don't think they'll eat it. I've seen fast food that looks better."

"Not everyone is a picky ass like you." Jou snapped starting to get irritated.

"Are you sure you're not trying to poison them? I think they have enough to deal with right now and don't need your cooking adding to their problems. Why don't you try adding some seasoning to it." Jou turned glare at Seto. But the smug look the CEO had on his face pissed Jou off.

"I KNOW how to cook Kaiba! I don't need your damn help!"

end

Jou shook his head when he realized that the walk sign was flashing now. Why the hell Seto couldn't mind his own business for once. Always thinking he was better then everyone else. //I'll get him back one of these days.// Jou thought, though he had been saying that most of his teenage life. He had never once seen Seto eat his own words. This of course made Jou walk faster as his anger flared up again. Anger at Seto for acting so high and mighty, anger at Malik for letting the damn CEO stay the night in the first place, but most of all, anger at himself. Because it isn't every day that your high school crush walks back into your life and make you realize just how much you really missed him.

Jou kicked a garbage can. He had fought with himself through most of high school that there were better people to like then Seto Kaiba #1 bastard. He'd been a little disappointed when high school ended and he now longer saw the CEO. And after a while, Jou thought he'd gotten over the blue eyed boy. He sighed and leaned against the wall. He wanted to say his life sucked, but compared to what Yugi had gone through, and what he was going through with the other two hikari's Jou didn't think he had much room to complain.

Looking at the sky he pushed off the wall. "Even the weather is against me." He said watching storm clouds in the distance. He could stay out for a couple more hours before they actually reached the city. So he decided he should head home and at least grab some clothes if he was going to stay with the hikari's for the next few days. He pushed off the wall and went to walk by the ally he'd been standing next to. As he did however he felt a cold chill run down his spine.

"…help…"

Jou blinked and looked into the ally. "Hello?" He asked sure he'd just heard someone.

"help…" the voice said again. Jou frowned and stepped into the ally looking around trying to find who was calling for help. But the ally was so dark he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

"Help" The voice said again louder this time. Jou was getting close. He walked further into the shadows.

"This is so damn BORING!" Marik complained as he laid down on the shadow ground. "You think someone would redecorate this place, at least make it a bit more FUN to be banished here."

"The whole point of being banished is not to have fun." Yami calmly pointed out.

"And who made that rule?" Marik asked looking over at Yami who was still looking around as if hoping to see something different other then shadows and darkness.

"Why are you asking me this?" Yami asked glancing at him.

"It's it obvious?" Bakura asked joining in the conversation just for something to do. "The all mighty Ra summoned you and you actually held a conversation with him." He said grinning. Yami raised an eyebrow still looking a little bewildered. "It means that instead of PRETENDING you're important, you actually ARE important now." Bakura said. "Therefore you must have all the answers to everything." Yami rolled his eyes lifting Bakura's arm from his shoulders.

"Just because I've talked to Ra doesn't mean I know what's going to happen next." Marik sat up and stared at him.

"And what's that supposed to mean? You don't know what's ganna happen next!?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like. I don't know what is going to happen. It all depends on what the Hikari's do. We could still be stuck in here for years before anything happens."

"Correction. YOU may have to stay here for years before anything happens. My hikari is a hell of a lot smarter then yours is and has probably already realized what's going on now that Bakura's wimp has his ring back." Yami glared at Marik crossing his arms over his chest. 

"My hikari is smarter then people give him credit for. I should know after being with him for so long."

"Right!" Marik snorted. "What he lacks in height he makes up for in brains! That must make him the smartest kid in the world." Bakura snorted at this earning a glare from Yami.

"Watch it Marik, the all mighty pharaoh looks a little pissed." Bakura said smirking slightly at Yami.

"Can't you two take something seriously for once? This is not a game."

"Says the king of games!" Bakura said and watched as Yami turned and walked away rolling his eyes at the other two yamis. As he did however he felt as if something in the shadow realm shifted. He turned back to the other two, Marik now on his feet both of them looking alert. The three of them looked around. But it didn't look like anything had changed. But something definitely had.

"…Something left the shadow realm." Marik said after a very long silence. Marik had been trapped in the shadow realm the longest, making it slightly easier for him to tell what had happened.

"Are you sure?" Bakura asked trying to pick up what Marik was sensing.

"Positive. Something large left the shadow realm, that's why it shifted. If it comes back, it will shift again." the three yamis looked at each other all of them thinking the same thing. If they weren't able to get out of the shadow realm soon their hikari's might not be alive much longer.

TBC 


	5. Chapter 5

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter five: hidden in shadows

Yugi sat in the living room his eyes heavy and tired. He looked at the clock. It was nearly three in the morning but no matter how hard he tired Yugi just couldn't seem to fall asleep. Even though he felt like he was going to pass out at any moment. Seto had left shortly after Jou had stormed out of the penthouse and despite Yugi's attempts to contact his friend, Jou would not answer his cell phone. That was nothing new. Yugi could only remember one time that Jou had actually used his cell phone. Most of the time the battery was just dead.

There was a soft squeak from a door being opened. Yugi turned his head to see Malik coming out of his room, he looked just as tired as Yugi did.

"Can't sleep either?" Yugi asked. Malik shook his head and sat down on the couch.

"No…" He said softly. "I don't remember the last time I was this restless…What about you?" He asked looking at Yugi. The smaller boy shook his head.

"I'm a little worried about Jou…" Yugi said honestly. Malik smiled.

"I'm sure he's fine. After all, the shadows aren't after him." Malik pointed out. Yugi nodded.

"I know…it's just. I think I got used to him being around all the time when stuff like this was happening…" Yugi said staring at a spot on the floor. Malik watched his friend. As Malik watched Yugi he realized that despite knowing Yugi and having helped him once before he didn't really know much about him. Malik slowly stood up and went over kneeling on the floor in front of Yugi's chair and looking up at him. Yugi's eyes were closed, but Malik could see the tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. He reached up and wiped one away. Yugi's eyes shot open and he stared at Malik.

"I'm sorry." Malik said softly. "I…" Malik sighed not sure what he should say. "Being a holder of a millennium items is never easy. Even if we no longer have the items…This is not really part of the whole legend behind the items but…It's fairly easy to see that a holder of a millennium item is cursed, as well as blessed." Malik said. Yugi blinked at him but didn't say a word.

"You Yugi…you were blessed in so many ways when you finished the puzzle. But nothing good lasts forever. Even blessings. The bigger the blessing, the further you have to fall." Malik reached up wiping more tears off Yugi's cheek as they fell. Yugi just sat there staring at Malik, he could feel himself shaking as he tried not to cry.

"We're all hikari's. Me, you and Ryou. No one can understand your pain more then Ryou and I can. Living so far away made it difficult for us to comfort each other. But we're here now Yugi. You don't have to act brave any more." Malik's own eyes started shining with tears but he refused to let them fall. Yugi blinked at Malik, his hands shaking. Malik glanced behind Yugi and smiled slightly when he saw Ryou standing there. Ryou leaned over and wrapped his arms around Yugi from behind hugging him. Yugi couldn't help but be amazed at how gentle Ryou still was, even after all the abuse his yami put him through.

Malik took Yugi's hand smiling at him again. "Like I said, we're here now Yugi." Tears flowed freely down Yugi's face. Ryou moved around to sit on the arm of the chair still hugging Yugi. Yugi hid his face in his hands, everything he'd kept inside for the past two years came to the surface. All the grief he had refused to let himself feel, the pain of being alone again, of feeling trapped. Malik wrapped his arms around Yugi as well resting his cheek on Yugi's head. The three of them just sat there like that taking comfort in each other, in the fact that they didn't have to voice what they were feeling, or going through, because the other two already knew.

Bakura sat watching Yami pace back and forth. The pharaoh had been doing that for Ra only knew how long! Bakura growled wishing he had something to throw at Yami.

"Would you STOP that!? You're making me dizzy!" He snapped. Yami stopped pacing and looked at him blinking before sitting down where he had stopped and crossed his arms and legs closing his eyes and continued thinking. Bakura stared and Marik snickered.

"I don't think that's much better then the pacing." He said sounding amused. Bakura rolled his eyes and laid down putting a hand behind his head, his other hand moving to rest on the millennium ring sitting on his chest. He reached his mind out just enough so he could feel his Hikari. Something that Marik and Yami were both currently unable to do. Bakura would not admit how much he had actually missed Ryou.

Sure the boy had been a whining brat which pissed Bakura off to no end, but he was, and always would be Bakura's hikari. Bakura opened his eyes to find Marik leaning over him their noses almost touching. Bakura yelped and sat up quickly cracking his and Marik's heads together.

"RA DAMNIT BAKURA!" Marik howled in anger. The head collision hadn't actually hurt, you couldn't feel pain unless you had a body. But just the thought of how much that would have hurt gave Marik a headache. He rubbed his head and looked at Bakura.

"What the hell were you doing?" Bakura asked.

"Watching you enjoy you're guilty pleasure." Marik said leaning back on his hands still watching Bakura. "So, how is the little hikari doing?" This question got Yami's attention rather quickly.

"Bakura! I told you not to use the ring to check on Ryou!" Yami snapped. 

"Like you wouldn't do the same thing if you were able to contact Yugi!" Bakura snapped. They had gone over this conversation already. And Bakura was getting tired of having the POWER to reach Ryou, and actually return to him. But not allowed to actually use it. 

"No, I wouldn't contact Yugi." Yami said through clenched teeth. "I thought I explained this to you? If you contact Ryou, Ryou will most definitely contact you back. And when that happens you will be pulled out of this realm and back into the ring."

"Making you loose your ride home." Bakura said. 

"Aww, the little pharaoh doesn't want to stay in the shadow realm?" Marik asked chuckling darkly. "I say you go ahead and do it Bakura. Then you can tell Malik how to get me back, we'll leave the pharaoh here and give him a taste of his own damn medicine. See how he likes being cut off from all other worlds and trapped in the shadow realm until someone decides to let him out."

"That is a very tempting idea." Bakura said his finger tracing over the eye on the millennium ring. Yami's eyes narrowed as he watched Bakura. "However." He let his hand fall away from the ring. "the thought of being alive again is even more tempting then that. And since his highness hasn't seen fit to give us the spell we need." Bakura had a small smirk on his face. "I do believe that the great Pharaoh has finally learned how to play games our way."

"If you can't beat them, join them?" Marik asked looking at Bakura. 

"Not quite." Yami said crossing his arms again. "After dealing with you two for quite some time, I know how to handle you by now. Well, at least I know how to handle Bakura, and you Marik are to much like him giving me the advantage over BOTH of you."

This made both Marik and Bakura laugh. "You have the advantage over us? The only reason I'm helping you with this pharaoh is so I can get a body of my own again. Something you oh so thoughtfully pulled me from five thousand years ago to seal the shadow realm."

"Speak for yourself." Marik said. "I've never had a body of my own. So I don't know what it would be like. The only reason I'm going along with this is because the shadow realm is boring as hell!…no wait, I take that back, I think hell would be far more interesting then this place." Before their conversation could go any further however, they felt the shadow realm shift again.

The three Yami's all tensed. It hadn't felt the same as before. Yami looked at Marik giving him a questioning look. Marik slowly shook his head also seeming as on edge as the other two. "I've…never felt that before." He said softly. They all sat there staring at each other wondering what it meant.

The door to the penthouse opened and Jou slowly stepped in closing the door behind him. He was glad that he'd gotten an extra key from Malik. He sighed and took his shoes off trying to be quiet. He put his bag down by the door and slowly tiptoed into the living room. Malik, Ryou and Yugi had all moved to the couch. All three of them were fast asleep. Malik sat in the middle sleeping sitting up while Ryou and Yugi had fallen asleep, Ryou with his head resting on Malik's shoulder, Yugi with his head on Malik's lap.

Jou smiled looking at them. Hikari's, looking at them he couldn't help but think that that word fit all three of them. How was it that people could go through so much in their life and still remain as innocent as the three of them had? Jou suspected that was something he would never learn the answer two unless he became the holder of a millennium item. He turned and slowly made his way into the kitchen. He was STARVING, after all he hadn't eaten since Seto had pissed him off making him leave his half cooked food on the stove and storm out of the penthouse.

Jou knew he should have called, but he really had been planning on coming right back. How was he supposed to know he would pass out on his couch and not wake up? Jou rubbed his head deciding to think on that after he ate.

"Nothing like food to get the brain working." He said to himself. Though that had never actually worked when he was in school. So he wasn't really expecting that it would work now. He made himself a quick sandwich and headed back to the living room. The moon, which had been hidden behind a cloud, shone through the window landing on the three sleeping on the couch. Jou stepped closer watching them. His eyes slowly turned black and he moved forward slowly the sandwich dropping to the floor. He looked at Malik and Yugi before his eyes landed on Ryou. Following the cord around Ryou's neck that held the millennium ring.

Jou reached out slowly to take the ring, only to have it flash as if warning him to back off. Jou narrowed his eyes. "Fine." Jou said, a second voice mixing with his own. A deep harsh voice. He turned his attention to the other two. Jou stared at Malik tilting his head to the side as if studying him. 

"Egyptian." He said grinning and glanced around the room spotting all the spots where the barrier spell had been put up. "Very cleaver." he said and leaned forward. Malik stirred slightly in his sleep slowly opening his eyes. He blinked looking up at Jou. Instantly the blackness was gone from Jou's eyes and the blond boy was standing there. Golden eyes locked with violet.

"Jou…?" Malik asked rubbing his eyes.

"Uh…yeah." Jou said standing up strait and glanced around. "You know, you guys shouldn't sleep like that. You'll regret it in the morning." Jou said picking up the sandwich he had dropped and headed back to the kitchen. Malik stared after him looking tired and confused. He looked down at Ryou and Yugi. He hated to wake them, but Jou had been right, they couldn't sleep like that. He slowly got off the couch being careful not to wake either of them. He lifted Yugi gently and carried him to his bedroom. Yugi whimpered in protest opening his eyes slowly.

"malik…?"

"Shhh, I'm just putting you to bed." He said and set Yugi down on the bed. "Go back to sleep." He said softly. Yugi nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but whatever he'd been about to say never made it out of his mouth. His eyes widened as he spotted something behind Malik. Malik blinked and slowly looked behind him. Jou stood there, his eyes black again an evil smirk appearing on his lips as he raised a knife bringing it down quickly.

Malik's scream filled the room as Yugi sat up in bed staring at Jou with wide fearful eyes. 

TBC 


	6. Chapter 6

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter six: Shadows of the heart

Jou grinned watching Malik grab his shoulder and falling onto the bed and glaring up at him. Yugi sat behind Malik eyes still wide as he looked at the wound on Malik's shoulder. If the blond hadn't moved as quickly as he had, it would have gone right into his back.

"How…did you get in here?" Malik hissed trying to hide the pain. He'd had worse then this, the scars on his back proved that. But it still didn't stop the wound from hurting.

"You missed a spot." Jou said chuckling darkly and licking the knife that was dripping in blood. "Your yami talks very highly of you. How smart you are. But I was still able to get in, and without very little effort on my part."

Malik blinked staring at him and Jou laughed again. "The door. There is no curse around the door to stop a possessed person from entering the barrier you constructed. Although, I guess I will give you credit for that. It is a very strong one. But, now you have gone and trapped yourself in a small bubble with me."

"…jou…" Yugi said sounding almost pathetic.

"Jou is sleeping little Yugi." The shadow said still using Jou's body.

"He can still hear me." Yugi protested. He knew Jou would be able to hear him, like he had heard him when Malik had taken over his mind.

"I know what you are thinking little one." The shadow said shaking his head. "And I am sorry to say that no, he can not hear you. This is not a simple fact of controlling the mind, this is a full body possession." he said twirling the knife in his hands. "Now, you both know what I am after. I might be…nice enough, and let your friend go. And let you three live. If you tell me where the other six are."

Yugi blinked staring. "We…"

"You'll never get them!" Malik snapped cutting Yugi off. Jou turned and glared at him again.

"Is that so?" He asked looking dangerous. "Well, maybe I'll let the other two live. You on the other hand, I think you are far more trouble then you are worth." He raised the knife again but before he could do anything Malik swung his foot up kicking him between the legs. Being trapped in a human body, the shadow was also able to feel the pain. Not willing to be defeated so easily he left the body quickly and dove towards Malik. Malik had no time to protect himself or even think of a spell to keep the shadow away.

He felt the hands grab his arms pinning him back on the bed. Malik screamed his eyes dilating at the pain in his wrists. But it also seemed to be running through his entire body. Ryou had been right, it felt as if all the pain he had ever felt, physical and emotional were concentrated right into the shadow's touch.

"NO!" Yugi shouted and dove at the shadow the only thing going through his mind was that he had to get him off of Malik. The shadow released one of Malik's hands reaching up before Yugi could even touch him and grabbed the smaller boy around the throat lifting him off the bed.

"You dare challenge me!?" The shadow yelled in furry. Yugi would have screamed if he had the breath for it. He kicked his feet as he was pulled off the bed and held up so his feet couldn't touch the floor. The shadow still keeping a hold on Malik making sure that the pain was enough to keep the blond boy under control.

The door to the room suddenly swung open as Ryou came and froze at what he saw. All the screams had woken him from his deep sleep. He stared at the shadow that now had his two friends trapped.

"Ah, there you are." The shadow said turning to look at Ryou. "So glad you could join us. Be a good boy and hand over that ring of yours. And I'll let your friends go." He said watching Ryou as the boy lifted shaking hands up to his ring and clutched it tightly. "I do not have all day!" The shadow snapped. "And neither do your friends!" As the shadow said this the room was filled with another scream from Malik and Yugi made a choking sound kicking and struggling more against the shadow's hold on his neck.

But the room was suddenly filled with another scream of pain. This one coming from the shadow. Yugi dropped to the floor coughing and gagging and the shadow backed away from Malik quickly holding his arm. Malik sat up on the bed pale sweating. In his hand he clutched the millennium rod. Ryou stared and looked over at Yugi who rolled over on his side. The puzzle hanging from his neck. The shadow shrieked in furry and dove at Jou taking over his body again.

"no…" Yugi choked out struggling to his feet. Malik was already up and running after the shadow who had hijacked Jou's body. "Jou…" Yugi stumbled and Ryou caught him when they heard the front door slam. Ryou helped Yugi out to the living room. A few moments later Malik came back in closing the door and leaned against it to catch his breath. Using the wall for support he went to the living room looking at Ryou and Yugi.

"….he's gone…" He said walking over and collapsing in a chair. "He just…vanished…" Yugi looked down looking like he wanted nothing more then to brake down crying again. But he saw the puzzle hanging around his neck. Looking back at Malik he saw that the other hikari now had his millennium rod as well.

"Well…I think we figured out how Ryou got his ring back." Malik said holding up the rod looking at it. Yugi nodded and leaned back rubbing his neck where the shadow had grabbed him.

"We should put some ice, or a cold cloth on your scars." Ryou said standing up and hurried off to the kitchen returning shortly with two cold cloths with ice in them. He handed one to Malik and the other to Yugi before sitting down his hand clutching his ring.

From the moment Ryou had found the shadow in the room with Malik and Yugi Bakura had been pacing like a caged tiger. He could feel Ryou's fear even though he wasn't fully connected to the boy at the moment, he could still feel it. Which just showed how scared Ryou really was.

Yami sighed putting his head in his hands. He didn't know what was going on. He had to fight with Bakura to keep the yami here when he had felt Ryou. Yami looked back up at Bakura when Marik suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Malik…" he said his eyes wide. "Malik his the millennium Rod!" Marik said looking at Yami grinning. Yami stood up quickly as well and looked at Bakura who stopped pacing. 

"Your soul is attached to the puzzle as well as the ring." Yami said and Bakura nodded closing his eyes. It was only a fragment of his soul that was held to the puzzle so it took a while but Bakura finally located it.

"Yugi has the puzzle." He opened his eyes and looked at Yami. "Now can we PLEASE get the hell out of here!?" He snapped. "I've seen enough of this place to last me a thousand life times." Yami nodded.

"Yes, let's go back." He said and took Bakura's hand. The three Yami's closed their eyes. Yami concentrated on staying with Bakura, while the thief found the ring. "Ryou…" he said softly waiting for his words to reach his hikari. Off to the side Yami could hear Marik calling Malik's name as well.

The hikari's sat in silence none of them knew what to say. Or do at that moment. Jou was being controlled by the shadows. And they still had no clue who was controlling the shadows. All they knew was the shadows were looking for the millennium items, which were supposed to be back in Egypt locked away in the pharaoh's tomb. But some how the hikari's items had returned to them.

"So…how exactly did the items return to us?" Yugi asked.

"We were in danger." Malik explained. "It's said that the true holders of the items are able to call forth their power even from across the sea."

"The…true holders?" Ryou blinked looking at Malik.

"The people who are destined to have the items. Who's lives have been to drastically effected by the items power. In a way, we our selves are now bound to the items. And the items are bound to us." Malik said looking from Ryou to Yugi.

"Does that mean, when we die we'll be trapped in the items like Yami, Bakura and Marik were?" Yugi asked looking slightly afraid at that thought. Malik shook his head.

"No. I'm not really sure WHAT it means…I just know what I've been told, and what I've read." He said and looked at his rod again. He ran his finger over the top and sighed closing his eyes.

//Ryou.// An all to familiar voice whispered in Ryou's mind. Ryou yelped in surprise his hand tightening around the ring and he looked around. Yugi and Malik were now looking at him. //Ryou.// Bakura said again and Ryou looked down at the ring, his hand shaking.

"B….Bakura?" He asked trying to keep the hope out of his voice, and failing miserably. A soft chuckle tickled his mind and the ring started to glow. Not long after the Millennium rod also started glowing brightly. Malik dropped it in surprise tucking his feet up on the chair and staring at it as if it would bite him.

The room filled with laughter. "Come now, you can't be THAT scared of me." Marik said appearing before Malik. Bakura soon appearing next to him. Ryou and Malik stared at their yamis with wide eyes, their mouths dropping open. In one hand Bakura held a small glowing orb. He smiled reaching out his free hand he put a finger under Ryou's jaw and closed his hikari's mouth. 

"That's better." He said smirking and then turned walking over to Yugi. He narrowed his eyes. "You had better be grateful for this." He grumbled. Yugi yelped when Bakura grabbed the puzzle pulling it up forcing Yugi to sit up straighter on the couch. Bakura shoved the glowing orb into the eye of the puzzle. It started to glow and Bakura dropped it back down onto Yugi's chest. A few seconds later Yami appeared in the room glaring at Bakura. 

"That HURT! I thought you of all people would realize that a soul is something FRADGLE!" Yami snapped. Bakura shrugged. 

"What can I say. I still don't like you." He said turning his back on Yami and looked back at Ryou. The three hikari's were still sitting there stunned.

"….yami…?" Yugi asked softly staring at him. Yami stopped glaring at Bakura and turned to Ryou giving him a gentle smile.

"Yes Yugi, it's me." Yami said and watched as Yugi's eyes filled with tears. 

"Yami." Yugi said again unable to form any other words that were running through his mind. In one motion Yugi leaped off the couch and wrapped his arms around Yami's neck tightly. Yami smiled and wrapped his own arms around Yugi holding him tightly. "Shh, it's alright aibou. I'm here now. It'll be alright, I promise."

Marik was sitting on the arm of the chair that Malik was sitting in holding his own hikari close. He glanced at Bakura who, as predicted, had not embraced his hikari. Bakura was not one to show emotions. No matter how happy he was that Ryou was safe, and that he was now back where he belonged, by his hikari's side to protect him. Ryou looked at Yugi being held by Yami, and Malik who had his face buried in his yami's chest. Looking at Bakura Ryou lowered his eyes watching a spot on the floor.

"welcome back…" Ryou said politely. Bakura nodded and sat down on the coffee table across from Ryou.

"Looks like you haven't changed. Still a trouble magnet. At least you had the sense to contact Malik." Bakura said with a nod.

/I missed you./ Ryou said in Bakura's mind. Bakura smiled a little.

//I know hikari. I missed you too. But I will not hug you.// He said firmly. Ryou nodded smiling a little back at Bakura.

/I know./ Ryou slid from his chair and moved closer to Bakura resting his head on his yami's lap. Bakura blinked looking down at him and shaking his head with a sigh. He petted Ryou's hair and glanced over at Marik who was smirking at him.

"Oh shut up." Bakura said.

"I didn't say anything." Marik said and returned to hugging his hikari.

A loud crash filled the room as the hooded figure kicked over the piller with the basin of water on it. Water spilled every where and the basin smashed.

"YOU FOOL!" The figure shouted turning and backhanding Jou, who was still being possessed by the shadow. The shadow unable to leave the body while he was in the presence of his 'master'. "Not only did you fail to get the items like I asked, you left the hikari's alive! And now their yami's have returned to this realm!!! And to TOP It all off you have chosen one of the WORST people to take control of! They will come looking for their friend! And we are no where near prepared to fight the hikari's AND their YAMI'S!" The shadow glared at his 'master' but didn't say a word.

"My lord…" Someone stepped forward kneeling. "If it pleases you, I can place myself close to the hikari's…find out their weakness-" The man was cut off by a sudden dark force hitting him square in the chest.

"You fool! I already know everything I need to about the hikari's! Incase you have forgotten I was close to them for a VERY long time. That is how I know just how dangerous these yami's are. I was among them when they walked with the hikaris the last time! The hikari's have no weakness now that their other halves have been returned." He turned back to the shadow. "THAT is why it was so important for you to finish them off BEFORE this happened!"

"I do not take orders from a human. You promised me the millennium items!" The hooded figure slapped the shadow again.

"You will get what I promised you once you have finished the task you have promised ME! We have to start over from scratch. You will remain in Jou's heart until the yamis and hikari's are sure that Jou is no longer a victim of the shadows. And only when I give you the order will you attack. Is that clear?" The shadow hissed at him.

"Yes sir." The shadow said sounding disgusted with himself. "Mark my words, I will get what is rightfully mine. And then." the shadow smirked. "Everything you are working to acheave will be destroyed by my hands." With that the shadow turned and walked away. The hooded figure held up his hand as a few made to stop the shadow from leaving.

"Let him go. He will accomplish what needs to be done. And then, he will be locked back in the shadow realm where he belongs."

"my lord." A female said stepping up beside him. "I still do not think it is wise that you released that shadow." She said turning and watching the door close.

"hmm, perhaps you are right. But you know as well as I do. That that shadow is the only one that stands a chance against any of the yami's. Come, we must prepare a new strategy." He turned and walked away. Girl followed quickly after him latching onto his arm as they walked out of the room.

TBC 


	7. Chapter 7

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter seven: Calm before the storm

After all the excitement the night before the three hikari's had been unable to fall back asleep. Despite the yami's trying to convince them. Bakura and Marik finally gave up.

"If you get sick don't blame me!" Bakura snapped at Ryou. Ryou had always been prone to sickness. Bakura had found this out after duelist Kingdom. Bakura himself could handle a bit of rough weather and had staid in possession of Ryou's body for most of that trip. And he had been able to ignore the cold he had caught while sleeping outside all those nights. But that had been Bakura's first hand experience at how weak his hikari really was.

"I won't get sick." Ryou said softly even as he lay his head back down on Bakura's lap. Marik watched them and shook his head before turning his attention to Malik. Marik knew his hikari wouldn't get sick from a lost nights sleep, but the wound on his shoulder was troublesome. Malik caught Marik staring at him and shook his head sighing.

"If you're that worried you can help me clean it." He said heading to the bathroom. The only reason Malik remembered the wound was there was because of the dull throbbing in his shoulder and the pain every time he moved it. Marik jumped to his feet and followed Malik into the bathroom.

Yami however was watching Yugi as the boy struggled with everything he had to stay awake. Yugi had stretched out on the couch, his head now in Yami's lap. His eyes red and puffy from crying again, but he didn't take his eyes off Yami for a second. Yami smiled at him and brushed some hair out of Yugi's face.

"Sleep aibou. I'll still be here when you wake up." Yami said. Yugi shook his head at this still not looking away from yami.

"…I don't want this to be a dream…" Yugi said. Yami blinked, he had not watched Yugi as much as he would have liked over the past two years. He had missed when Grandpa had died. And when Yugi's friends had left him. Yami was slightly grateful he had missed watching those events, because he would have been tempted to return long before now.

"It's not a dream." Yami said kissing Yugi's forehead. Yugi closed his eyes and literally had to struggle to open them again. Yugi stared at Yami again, his eyelids sagging more before he finally gave up and closed them. He snuggled closer to Yami fisting a hand in Yami's shirt. /don't want to be alone any more./ Was Yugi's final thought before sleep over took him. Yami frowned as he watched Yugi pass out from pure exhaustion.

"Hn, he's still stubborn." Bakura said. Yami looked up and found that Bakura had been watching him, Ryou having fallen asleep himself.

"They both are." Yami pointed out. Bakura shook his head.

"Ryou is easy to force to sleep. Just a few commands in his head does the trick. He'll sleep for hours now." Bakura said and carefully lifted Ryou up. Yami frowned at that.

"You FORCE him to sleep?"

"Yeah. The only way I could get him to shut up sometimes. He really is a whiner." Yami watched Bakura carry Ryou into the bedroom, he shook his head and leaned back his hand absently running through Yugi's hair. //Don't worry my hikari. I'll make sure you're never alone again.// He silently promised Yugi. Yugi however made no response.

The door to the bathroom opened again and Marik came out followed shortly by Malik who's shoulder was now wrapped in bandages. But he didn't look to happy. Yami raised an eyebrow as Marik threw some peaces of fabric into the rubbish. Malik glared at him as he slowly sat down wrapping his arms around himself being careful not to show much of his back to anyone. It was then that Yami realized that the peaces of fabric had been Malik's shirt.

"You don't have to hide your scars you know." Yami said. "Everyone here has already seen them." He pointed out. This earned HIM a glare from Malik, but the hikari still didn't say anything.

"Malik, stop sulking. You couldn't ware a bloody shirt!" Marik said rolling his eyes. He looked at Yami. "He's still insecure about his scars. Doesn't like anyone seeing them, even if they've already seen them before." Marik said taking off his own shirt and tossing it at Malik. Malik quickly pulled it on fixing his yami with another glare.

"I am not some exhibit!" He snapped. "It doesn't matter if people have seen them before or not. Scars like mine….people stare…and I don't like it." Malik explained pulling his feet up onto the chair and wrapping his arms around his knees. Yami looked at him blinking. He had never realized that it bothered the boy that much. Marik looked at Yami.

"Malik never wanted it." he said. "He didn't want anything to do with guarding the pharaoh's tomb." Marik said. Yami looked down at his own sleeping hikari. As he thought about it he realized that he had never really gotten the full story of why Malik's back had bee carved into. All he knew was that it was something that every male in Malik's family had to undergo. 

"His father was a sick bastard." Marik said suddenly. Malik's head shot up and he gave Marik a warning look. Yami watched them and could tell that they were talking mentally. Although with the looks on their faces he was sure it was more like arguing instead of talking.

/Shut up Marik! It's in the past and you don't need to go blabbing the whole story to anyone!/

//I wasn't going to 'blab' I was just stating a fact.//

/A fact that YAMI didn't know! The last thing I want is him asking questions NOW SHUT UP!/ With that Malik stood and stormed back to his bedroom slamming the door. Yami gave Marik a confused look. Marik sighed and shook his head.

"Malik's dad wasn't the…fatherly type." Marik said and then looked down at Yugi smiling a little. Yami felt Yugi move closer to him and looked down to see that Yugi had woken up.

"You didn't sleep very long." Yami said leaning down and kissing Yugi's forehead. Yugi didn't move, still staring at Marik. Yami glanced up and rolled his eyes when he saw Marik was now smirking at Yugi. Yami picked up a pillow and threw it at the other yami. Marik yelped when the pillow hit him right in the face.

"You're scaring Yugi, stop it."

"What?! I was just smiling at him!"

"You were smirking." Yami said turning his attention back to Yugi who was sitting up rubbing his eyes. Marik snorted and stood up heading to Malik's room. Yugi turned and looked at Yami.

"I couldn't sleep." He said. 

"Were we talking to loud?" Yami asked. Yugi shook his head.

"No, I just couldn't sleep. I…I'm worried about Jou." He looked down his hair shadowing his eyes. Yami could tell that he was trying not to cry. He wrapped his arm around Yugi's shoulder frowning when he felt him tense up. "What's wrong Yugi?" Yugi was silent for a long time and Yami was beginning to wonder if he had fallen back asleep.

"Why did you come back?" Yugi asked. "Are you here to…stop that shadow thing?" Yami blinked taken aback by Yugi's dull tone.

"…I, yes. That is one reason why I'm back." Yami said. Yugi slid out from under Yami's arm and stood up not looking at him.

"After that, then what? Will you have to go back? You don't belong here. Spirits should move on. Isn't that the reason you left two years ago?" Yugi asked his voice now bitter. Yami stood up staring, he'd never seen Yugi like this. And he was just now realizing how much the boy had changed in the past two years. For one, Yugi had finally gotten taller. Not much, but he was now the same height as Yami. He also looked skinnier, as if he hadn't been eating right. But those were just outward chances. The biggest change that Yami could see, was the light that he used to be able to see around Yugi, the light of innocence, seemed to be fading. And now that he thought about it, the light around Ryou and Malik had faded as well.

"Yugi…there is another reason I cam back. And why I brought Bakura and Marik with me too." Yami said stepping closer to Yugi. The other boy didn't move, but Yami could see that he was still tense.

"It…would have been better." Yugi said as if he hadn't heard Yami. "If this had just been a dream…"

"Yugi, please don't say that." Yami said moving around so he could stand in front of Yugi. He put a finger under Yugi's chin and lifted his hikari's face so he could look at him in the eyes.

"Yugi, I'm not leaving again." he said making sure Yugi heard him. "I came back, and I plan on staying." Yami said, not yet telling Yugi about the mortality spell. He would save that news for later. Once they had gotten Jou back. And found out who was behind calling the shadows. Yugi stared at him a look of disbelief crossed his face. 

"You….you're not leaving again?" Yugi asked. Yami shook his head.

"I'm going to stay here with you." Yugi smiled some of the light returning to his eyes and Yami smiled back at him pulling him into a hug. "I promise, I will never leave your side again." he whispered.

"I promise, I will never leave your side again." The voice echoed through the dark room as the hooded figure stood over the water basin watching Yami and Yugi.

"It's sickening isn't it?" He asked looking at his female counterpart. She however didn't seem amused at all. He was glaring at the image in the water as. "You keep glaring at them like that I think they'll burst into flames." he laughed and she fixed her glare on him. He laughed again.

"Still have feelings for him do you, Anzu?" He asked. Anzu snorted pulling her hood down still glaring.

"If things had been different two years ago then he would have been mine." She said looking back at the two in the water. Not baring to look at them any more she hit the surface of the water making the image vanish.

"I was still watching that." He snapped pulling his hood off.

"You enjoy watching boys get all lovey dovey?" Anzu asked turning her back on him. "Really Honda." She said waving her hand and walking over sitting down on a couch.

"No, I don't enjoy watching them." Honda snapped turning his attention back to the water and waved his hand over it. This time an image of Ryou and Bakura appeared. "I am waiting for the right moment to act." He said grinning. Anzu blinked at him.

"Act? What are you talking about?" She asked looking interested again.

"Tell me Anzu, do you know how a 'shadow' is born?" He asked grinning more widely. Anzu shook her head.

"No, I don't. But I get the feeling you're going to tell me."

"Actually, I think it would be much more educational if you were to just watch." He said still looking into the water. Anzu blinked and stood up going over and looking into the basin again.

Bakura sat next to Ryou's bed watching over him. He heard Yami and Marik in the living room and shook his head glad he'd left when he did. He looked at Ryou's pale form and sighed.

"You really are helpless when you're alone aren't you?" He asked not expecting an answer. Ryou moaned in his sleep rolling over.

"…stop…please…" he whimpered and Bakura blinked. Even after two years Ryou was still having nightmares? Bakura frowned, he had never cared to look into his hikari's dreams. Because he himself was never a big fan on nightmares. But he had thought after all Ryou had gone through that the nightmares would have stopped. The fact that they hadn't worried him. What was it that Ryou was so scared of?

Bakura made a mental note to ask Ryou about it when he woke up. For now, he just sat and watched his hikari sleep.

TBC 


	8. Chapter 8

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter eight: Shadows of a memory

Malik sat on the window sill looking out at the city lights. He brought one hand up to his shoulder when it started throbbing again. Marik frowned as he watched Malik. He knew what he was thinking of. And Marik wished he could get Malik to think of something else.

"Dwelling on those memories will only make you bitter." Marik said coming to stand next to Malik who didn't look at him right away.

"I don't see why you'd object….after all, it's these memories that created you." Malik said in a soft voice. Marik wrapped his arms around Malik holding him close.

"Exactly, I don't think I could handle competition if you were to make someone else like me." Marik teased. Malik shook his head and leaned against Marik. 

"Marik…do you…hate the reason you exist?" Malik asked. Marik sighed and let go of Malik moving to sit down next to him, he held out the Millennium rod and made Malik turn his head away from the city lights so they could look at each other.

"Malik. I may have been created because of what happened to you. But I have developed into my own being. And if I could vanish and make it so what that sick bastard of a father did to you, never happened. I would. But I can't. You know that as well as I do."

Malik looked back out the window this time staring at his own reflection. "We…we're ganna have to tell them…aren't we?" He asked looking back over at Marik.

"We still have time." Marik said. "Yugi's friend isn't in to much trouble yet. But yes, we will have to tell them about the shadows."

"I already-"

"Everything Malik." Marik said sternly and watched Malik pale. "I don't think it's fair making them fight something that they don't even know what it is. I am living proof that the shadows are much more then monsters."

"But…you're different then the shadows are!" Malik said.

"Not by much!" Marik shot back. "I was created the same way they were. The only difference is I wasn't banished to the shadow realm before I could fully form."

"But then how come there aren't other shadows walking around? Not EVERY shadow is banished to the shadow realm…" Malik said frowning.

"Because not every shadow in a person's heart has the power of a millennium item behind it. Look, Malik, you don't have to go into detail. But we DO have to tell Bakura and Yami at least. And if you don't, then I will."

"Why haven't you already?" Malik asked curious. 

"Because, it's not my right to tell." Marik stood up and jerked his head towards the door. "Come on, let's get something to eat." Malik nodded and silently followed his mind still on other things.

Bakura had started pacing the room listening to Ryou still trapped in a nightmare. Bakura had tried to do something when the boy had started thrashing around on the bed struggling with an invisible foe, but he had found that he couldn't get into Ryou's mind.

Ryou had accused Bakura long ago for giving him the nightmares. And although Bakura would have loved to take credit for it, the thought of tormenting his hikari while he slept had never occurred to him. But after that Ryou had started teaching himself how to put up mental blocks against Bakura, he wasn't really good at them when he was awake, but while asleep he was a master at keeping people out.

Bakura sighed and went over to the bed kissing Ryou's forehead. "Ryou." He said softly deciding that even if he let Ryou continue sleeping he wouldn't get much rest with his dreams. He shook Ryou slightly to wake him up.

Dream

A five year old Ryou ran down the street as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. He was cold and wet, but he refused to go home. Not until he was sure his father would be there. Ryou ran all the way to the park before stopping to catch his breath. He never noticed the car pull up beside him, or the man that was getting out of the car.

"Ryou." The man said making Ryou freeze where he was. He slowly turned his eyes going wide. "n…no…stay away!" Ryou said backing away from him. The man ignored Ryou and advanced.

"Ryou." Anther voice said. Ryou blinked and looked around for the owner of the voice. Not seeing anyone else he turned back to the man standing in front of him, his eyes widened when he saw that the man was no longer alone. Standing behind him was a shadow, and even though it didn't really have a mouth, Ryou could tell it was smirking at him.

"Remember." The shadow hissed moving closer to Ryou who backed up against the park fence. "Remember everything." The shadow held out his hand and put it over Ryou's eyes. Ryou screamed as pain ran through his whole body. He felt his hands suddenly trapped above his head, and he was no longer standing up.

He couldn't feel the shadows touch any more, but he was still in pain. He opened his eyes slowly and saw his uncle leaning over him. Ryou looked up and saw that his hands had been tied to the bed.

"Hmm, you are such a good boy." His uncle whispered and Ryou could smell the alcohol on his breath. And Ryou knew what was happening. His father had left for another dig, and he was staying with his uncle until his father returned. And the fear of his uncles temper kept Ryou from ever saying anything to his father of what happened. Tears filled Ryou's eyes when he felt his uncle climb on the bed with him. He felt rough hands spreading his legs. And everything after that was a blur. But Ryou was still able to see the shadow standing in the corner of the room laughing.

End

Bakura frowned when he wasn't able to wake Ryou up. He shook the smaller boy again. Nothing happened. Bakura stood heading towards the door to go call Yami and Marik in here when Ryou suddenly arched off the bed letting out blood curdling scream. What happened next had Bakura frozen in place even as the door burst open behind him.

A shadowy vapor seemed to be rising strait out of Ryou. The more the boy screamed and thrashed the more the vapor seemed to be gaining shape. Yugi and Yami had been the one's to burst into the room only to come to a halt staring at Ryou, and the rapidly forming shadow with wide eyes.

"Ryou!?" Yugi yelped and made to go over to him. But Yami stopped him.

"Wait Yugi!" He said and looked at Bakura.

"What's going on?" Yami asked. Bakura shook his head still staring at his hikari.

"I don't know…He was having a nightmare and I couldn't wake him up. Then he just started screaming and then THIS happened!" The room was suddenly filled with the high pitched laugh from the shadow as it took shape next to Ryou's bed staring down at the boy. It reached out trailing a hand over Ryou's face. Bakura growled and moved forward quickly.

"NO ONE touches what belongs to ME!" He yelled aiming to punch the shadow. But it just turned and easily hit Bakura back sending him flying right into Marik who had come in the room Malik on his heals. Ryou stirred on the bed letting out a pained whimper as he slowly opened his eyes. The shadow looked back at him.

"Thank you, for giving me life." The shadow said and leaned down close to Ryou who tried to sink further into the bed doing his best not to let the shadow touch him again. "Your pain is delicious."

"Ra DAMNIT!" Marik shouted shoving Bakura off him none to gently, holding up the millennium rod. The shadow spun around just in time to see a flash of light from the rod. A high pitched scream filled the room as the shadow returned to vapor and seemed to sink back into Ryou.

Ryou shuddered as he sat up wrapping his arms around himself feeling cold. He avoided looking at the others in the room. Bakura blinked looking at Marik who looked beyond pissed and turned towards Malik. The look of anger not fading at all.

"Happy now Malik?" Marik asked. Malik looked passed his yami and stared at Ryou. "Still want to be stubborn? Or are you ready to tell them?" Malik half ignored Marik. He was wondering what could have caused Ryou so much pain that it was able to form a shadow like the one they'd just seen. He looked back at Marik and then at Yami and Yugi who were looking at him with a look of confusion, and then Bakura who looked like he had a thousand questions on his mind but chose not to ask them as he stood and went over to Ryou trying to comfort him. Malik lowered his head and turned to leave the room stopping at the door he looked back.

"I'll be in the living room…there's…something else I need to tell you, about the shadows." He said and left. Yugi stood there watching Malik go then looked at Marik who didn't look quite so angry any more and he followed Malik out. Yugi looked at Yami. 

"What…what exactly is going on?" Yugi asked frowning. Yami shook his head.

"I wish I knew. But I'm just as confused as you are." He turned and looked at Ryou who was still shaking and curled up close to Bakura. The yami had his arms wrapped around Ryou rocking him gently trying to calm him down more. Yami shook his head. He knew Bakura never liked to openly show affection, and the fact that he was now was proof that what had just happened really scared him. Yami looked at Yugi when he felt a hand on his arm slowly pulling him towards the door.

"We'll wait for them with Malik and Marik." Yugi said softly. Yami nodded and followed him out of the room, stopping at the door to look back at Ryou and Bakura again.

Jou walked down the street rubbing his head. He felt like he'd been hit by a buss, and he couldn't remember anything. All he knew was that he had left Malik's penthouse. And had woken in his apartment nearly two days later. Although he also remembered going back to the penthouse. But if that were true he'd still be there.

Jou leaned against a brick wall letting out a long sigh. He wished he could remember what had happened yesterday, and what he'd been doing since. Because he knew that he couldn't have slept for almost two days. "what is wrong with me?" He asked himself, unaware of the person now standing in front of him.

"I've been trying to figure that out for years." Seto said. Jou slowly looked up at Seto and blinked slowly trying to get the taller man to come into focus. It wasn't easy with the way his head kept pounding. Seto blinked frowning deeply when Jou didn't throw an irritating childish comment back at him.

"Let me guess, you finally got to annoying and they threw you out?" He asked still eyeing Jou who just shrugged.

"Couldn't tell ya. I don't remember a damn thing. And if they did throw me out, it must have been out the window because that's what my head feels like right now. So unless you have something to say that I might actually give a shit about leave me alone." Jou said wincing as he pushed off the wall. Seto watched him take only two steps before his legs seemed to decide they were through holding him up. Seto's reflexes kicked in and he caught the blond boy before he could hit the pavement and do more damage to himself.

Being this close Seto realized for the first time how pale Jou was, and it looked like he might have a fever. "Stupid mutt, don't you even take care of yourself?" He growled. Holding Jou easily with one arm Seto shoved his hand into his pocket pulling out a cell and calling for his limo to come pick him up. He didn't have to wait long before the limo came around the corner and stopped in front of Seto. The CEO didn't wait for the driver to get out and open the door for him.

Opening the back door Seto lifted Jou and set him in the back seat before climbing in himself. "Take me home." He demanded and closed the divider to the driver. He turned his attention back to Jou who looked like he was half awake, but obviously wasn't registering where he was or what was going on. Seto made a mental note to call Yugi and Malik and see if they knew what was wrong with Jou.

Anzu blinked staring at the water and then looked at Honda. "I don't get it. How exactly is a shadow born? From nightmares?" She asked. Honda shook his head.

"Not from nightmares. From pain, and suffering. They feed on negative energy. At least that's what I've come to learn."

"How did you learn this?" Anzu asked looking back at the water still watching Ryou and Bakura. "It doesn't seem to be very common knowledge. Yami didn't even seem to realize what was going on."

"No, it's really not that common. Because there are only seven items right? And most of the time the item is being held by someone pure of heart. So even if they do have a bit of a bad history, it still wouldn't be enough to create a shadow." Honda explained. "And the reason I know all this." Honda's eyes narrowed. "Is because I have my own shadow. I don't have a millennium item, but I have been around them long enough." Anzu stared at him eyes wide. "Don't worry, it's not in control of me or anything. I just know it's there, and it allows me to use shadow magic."

"Well, that makes bit more sense now." Anzu said smiling. "I was always curious, but I never questioned. Because we both wanted the same thing. Yugi gone, and Yami to come back."

"Yes, but with Yami being here back with Yugi. That sets us back quite a bit. It's going to be really hard to get Yugi alone long enough to get rid of him. But once we do, Yami will thank us for ridding the world of people who are just a waste of space." Anzu nodded her agreement and went back over to sit on the black leather couch smiling as she watched Honda. She honestly didn't care how it was done, as long as she wound up with Yami in the end.

TBC 


	9. Chapter 9

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter nine: Secrets in shadows

Yami sat in the large chair with Yugi sitting on his lap as they watched Marik and Malik. The blond haired boy was sitting hunched over his elbows on his knees, his face hidden in his hands. Marik stood calmly next to him running a hand through Malik's hair trying to give him what comfort he could. It was nearly half an hour before Bakura had calmed Ryou down enough to bring him out into the living room.

Yugi looked over at Ryou looking worried. Ryou looked like the whole weight of the world had just landed on him. Bakura sat Ryou down on the couch before he took a seat on the arm next to his hikari. They all looked at Malik who showed no signs of registering that his two friends were now sitting there waiting for him to explain more about what's going on. Malik finally took a deep breath and lowered his hands, but didn't look up.

"I, didn't tell you everything I knew. About the shadows." He started. Marik continued running his fingers through Malik's hair trying to encourage him.

"…There's more?" Yugi asked frowning. Malik nodded.

"I didn't think it would be that important…But, I know how shadows are created." He slowly raised his head to look at Yugi and Ryou who were staring at him. "They are created from anger and pain. And that is what they feed off of to get stronger. But they can't take physical shape without the help of a millennium item."

"How do you know this?" Yami asked. Even he didn't know how shadows were created. He only knew they existed and lived in the shadow realm.

"Because…I created one. When I was ten years old." Malik said softly. Everyone suddenly turned to look at Marik. They all knew that Marik had been a creation of Malik, and was no where near as old as Bakura and Yami were.

"Marik? He's a shadow?" Yugi asked staring at the spiky haired yami. "But, he doesn't look like the other one…or like the one that was just in Ryou's room."

"That's because Malik didn't banish me to the shadow realm." Marik said. "He wanted me to stay. He had enough pain in his life, and his hatred for his father was more then enough to help me get a physical form. And by the time Malik met up with you guys I had enough energy of my own to become my own person. That is a big difference between me and other shadows. Other shadows are still consumed by the hatred and pain that created them."

"But…." Yugi frowned. "If that were true, how come I don't have a shadow?" Yugi asked. Marik turned to look at him and frowned a little in thought.

"I guess it's because even though everyone has pain in their life. You haven't had enough to make a shadow, and even if you have, it's no where near strong enough to take physical form."

"Then…why did Ryou…" Yugi looked over at his other friend who was making an obvious effort NOT to look at anyone. Bakura frowned looking down at the smaller boy. Despite all the time he'd spent with Ryou, he'd never actually taken the time to get to know him. Like Yami had done with Yugi. And Marik with Malik. All Bakura had been worried about before was getting his hands on the millennium items and getting even with Yami. Getting to know his hikari wasn't exactly top priority for him. But now, he kind of regretted that.

"I think I should tell you…The only way to destroy a shadow is in the creators mind. I'm not sure how it's done. But I know that the shadow lives in memories. And as long as it's alive there, it can't be killed in this world." Malik explained.

"That should be easily fixed for Ryou then." Bakura said. "I'll just go into Ryou's memories and kill the damn thing. Stop it before it can get stronger." It sounded like a reasonable idea, at least, to everyone except Ryou who was shaking his head so quickly it looked like he might snap his neck.

"No! I…I can do it." Ryou said. //I don't want anyone to see.// He thought. He'd kept his uncle a secret for years. And the last people he wanted finding out about what happened were his friends. And he especially didn't want Bakura finding out. It was just proof of how weak Ryou really was. 

Everyone was staring at Ryou now. He apparently hadn't realized how odd he had looked with his rather loud protest. "Ryou." Marik said frowning. "you don't know how to use shadow magic. That's what you need to kill a shadow. It doesn't really hurt them, but it's how shadows are banished to the shadow realm where they belong."

"I don't want anyone running around through MY memories!" Ryou snapped his eyes shadowing over as this happened. Bakura noticed this and jumped up staring at Ryou hoping he hadn't seen what he thought he saw. The others were also staring at the other hikari as if trying to decide they had really seen the shadow in Ryou's eyes. Ryou stood up and walked over to the window walking out onto the balcony now done with the conversation.

Yugi frowned watching Ryou and looked at Yami hoping he might have some idea. But Yami was looking at Bakura. "I take it you don't know what it is Ryou wants kept secret, do you?" Yami asked. Bakura shook his head.

"I honestly didn't give a shit what was in his mind. And never bothered to look." He said still standing. He glanced over at Ryou. "He's really upset. Whatever it is he'll probably have barriers around making it harder for me to find if I were to go into his mind and look."

"Let him calm down." Marik said. "Then we'll let you talk to him. Maybe he'll tell you." Bakura nodded heading out to stand with Ryou hoping his presence wouldn't anger the younger boy more.

Yugi leaned back against Yami letting his mind wonder. This new information about the shadows had his mind going a mile a minute. "Malik, if you have to go into the creators mind to kill the shadow. Does that mean that if the person who created the shadow dies, the shadow dies with them?" Yugi asked.

"No, then the shadow is automatically sent to the shadow realm and is trapped there. Unless the shadow is sill within the creator. Then the person carries it with them to the other side where the Gods deal with the shadow."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Yugi asked out of curiosity. 

"Because…I didn't really think it would be that important…" Malik looked down. "And even if I had told you, it's not like we could have done anything about it. I know a few spells that have been passed down through my family, but I can't use shadow magic. None of us can."

"Maybe so, but we might have been able to think of something…" Yugi said looking thoughtful again. Yami chuckled a little and Yugi turned to look at him.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just a relief that after all that's happened you still look on the positive side of things. " Yami said putting a hand on Yugi's head. Malik smiled watching them as he stood up. All attention was turned back towards the balcony when they heard Ryou.

"I DON'T NEED ANY HELP!!!" Ryou shouted shoving Bakura away. Marik jumped over the chair that was in his way and ran out onto the balcony. He blinked when he saw the outline of a shadow surrounding Ryou but not coming out like it had before. The shadow remained inside the hikari, just under the surface. It wanted to be seen, but to hurt it, they would have to hurt Ryou.

Yami soon joined the other two. Malik and Yugi standing back watching Ryou through the window. Yugi's hands were shaking as he watched the shadow and Ryou. "…not again…" He said softly thinking of the shadow possessing Jou. 

The shadow laughed as the yami's stood there Marik holding the dagger that was hidden in the millennium rod. Bakura clenching his fists and Yami glaring daggers at the shadow and Ryou.

"Mmmm, he's so tasty." The shadow laughed. "Oh, he's so angry right now. He doesn't like people poking around in his head. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Bad Bakura. You should know better." The shadow hissed as it slowly took shape behind Ryou, it's arms wrapped around the boy who still didn't seem to realize the shadow was there.

"Ryou." Bakura said and Ryou actually glared at him.

"They are MY thoughts!" Ryou continued what he'd been saying as if the shadow hadn't just interrupted. "My memories, and if I don't want to share them with you I don't have to!"

"Yesssss," The shadow hissed in Ryou's ear. "You tell them little one. Your memories, your delicious memories." Ryou closed his eyes shaking his head and the shadow laughed. "You can't ignore me little one." Ryou let out a small whimper keeping his eyes tightly closed. 

"leave me alone…" He said, whether it was directed at the shadow or Bakura it was hard to tell.

"Ryou. You have to let me into your mind so I can help!" Bakura said moving towards Ryou. The shadows flashed in Ryou's eyes as the Shadow used Ryou's energy to blast Bakura back.

"He doesn't want your help." The shadow smirked, it seemed to be taking more of a solid shape which made Marik growl.

"Son of a bitch…" Marik looked at Ryou wondering just what happened to him to make a shadow form so quickly. The Shadow grinned tightening his hold around Ryou pulling him closer.

"l-let me go…" Ryou said well aware of the shadow behind him now. "Please…please stop it…"

"Oh, but your memories taste so good. I can't stop now." The shadow leaned over licking Ryou's neck. Ryou's eyes shot open but they were unfocused as he started visibly shaking.

"RYOU!" Malik and Yugi said at the same time and were stopped from going out on the balcony by Yami and Marik. The shadow turned it's attention to Yugi and Malik licking his lips as his hand slowly started to slide up Ryou's shirt.

///You will be next. I can taste your fear. You have good control over your shadow./// Yugi backed up quickly eyes wide as he stared at the shadow.

"I…don't have a shadow." Yugi said.

///every one has a shadow. Your shadow dwells deep within your soul. Memories long forgotten. Shall I, open the door?///

Yami spun quickly and looked at Yugi and back to the shadow. He growled and entered Yugi's mind quickly. "You have no place here!" Yami shouted. "BEGONE!!" There was a blinding flash of light from the millennium puzzle. The shadow screamed and vanished back into Ryou hiding deep within the hikari so that the light could not reach him. Bakura caught Ryou as the boy slowly sank to his knees still trembling. Yugi and Malik stared at their friend. Yugi jumped when he felt Yami's arms wrap around him. He looked back and smiled a little.

"Thank you." Yugi said. Yami nodded.

"No one enters my hikari's mind."

"Did you…banish him?" Yugi asked as he looked back at Ryou hoping that was the lat time something like that would happen. But hearing the sigh from Yami Yugi got the feeling it was only the beginning of their troubles.

"I think, the shadow might be bound to Ryou. Whatever it is he refuses to tell us is helping create that shadow. The only one who can help Ryou right now, is Ryou." Yami said and looked at Bakura who for the first time since Yami met him, looked at a loss for what to do. Ryou was still refusing Bakura entry into his mind.

Malik went over and knelt on the other side of Ryou looking at him sadly. "Why won't you tell us anything Ryou? You're just making the shadow stronger…I KNOW that's not what you want." Ryou shook his head hiding his face in Bakura's shoulder.

"I can't…don't you understand? I can't tell you!" Ryou cried.

"Ryou, I know whatever it is must be really bad. Something that you're not able to forget. Something that caused you so much pain that the shadow is able to feed off you." Marik said leaning down to look at Ryou. "I was created the same way. The pain of loosing a parent might create a spark for a shadow. But pain that builds up through a person's life, if they grew up with it, that is what makes a shadow stronger. I am guessing that your time with Bakura before had a hand in making the shadow stronger."

Bakura snorted. "I hardly touched the kid." He said. Which was true, the only time he'd ever actually done REAL damage to Ryou was when Malik had first shown up trying to defeat the pharaoh.

"My point." Marik continued. "Is that there are very few things that will scar a person's soul enough to make a shadow as strong as you have Ryou."

"…Malik made you, just by hating his father." Ryou pointed out. Marik sighed, well, at least he was listening. 

"No…I didn't." Malik said and Marik looked at him quickly. Malik was looking at Ryou a determined look on his face. He hated seeing his friend like this. "It started because I was afraid of what would happen on my tenth birthday."

"…your scars…" Ryou said having heard this story once before.

"I never told you the whole story of that." Malik said and Ryou slowly turned to look at him frowning.

"you seem to have a bad habit of leaving out rather large details." He said. Marik and Bakura couldn't help but smile a bit at that. Malik heard someone covering up a soft chuckle behind him and knew that Yami and Yugi were standing in the doorway to the balcony.

"My family lived underground, our only job was to protect the pharaoh's tomb. But it was still a hard life. My family was never allowed to go and get other jobs. So we had to earn money other ways. When a male child in my family turns ten the secret of the pharaoh is carved onto their back. But also when they are ten, they have to start earning money to support the whole family. I was rather useless when I was a kid. I couldn't do hard labor. And I refused to steal…"

"then…how did you…"

"My father decided how I was going to feed my brother, sister and myself. Once my back was healed enough he took me into town and…he started selling me. The only scars I had were the one's my father had carved into me. And blond hair is not very common for an Egyptian." Malik said looking down. "It was because of that, my hatred for my father grew, and I couldn't deal with the pain any more. That's when I created Marik." Malik finished and was nearly knocked off balance when Ryou through his arms around him hugging him tightly crying.

Yugi stood there, Yami's arms still wrapped around him. He'd never known Malik had had such a life. He suddenly felt rather selfish for being so depressed for the past two years when he'd lost everyone. Sensing his hikari's thoughts Yami tightened his arms around Yugi.

//Everyone's pain is different. But it doesn't mean that you were hurt any less then Malik was. A soul can be scared in many ways. Some scars are just deeper then others.//

"Let's go back inside." Malik said petting Ryou's hair. "My leg's falling asleep." He stood up pulling Ryou with him. He didn't know if Ryou would be more willing to let Bakura into his mind to banish the shadow. But the silver haired boy didn't seem as angry as he had been before. And definitely seemed to be thinking.

The shadow paced back and forth cursing under his breath. "Damn that guy." He hissed and slowly moved out of the soul he was hiding in to take a peek around. He saw Seto sitting next to him and growled before retreating back into the soul. He hated it in here. This was only supposed to be a temporary body, but now he was stuck in here under orders.

"There is no pain in here for me to feed off of!" He kicked the ground and continued pacing. There was a bit of anger and that kept the shadow from going hungry. But whatever pain had been in this person's soul had healed to much and no longer affected him.

"Stupid fucking goodie toshoes!" He yelled trying to vent his own anger in some way. He was tempted to leave this soul and attach himself onto the man his 'host' was currently sitting next to. But the shadow could tell that that man would put up to much of a fight making it not worth the effort. "Just wait, when I get the millennium items, I'm going to kill you, and your shadow, Honda."

The shadow stopped pacing and stretched his senses to the limit. The birth of a new shadow. "Well, this should make things more interesting at least." He said and sat down crossing his arms and waiting.

TBC 


	10. Chapter 10

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Chapter ten: shadowed mind

Yugi sighed as he sat on the couch, letting his mind wander. Ryou still hadn't told anyone anything. However, he had been letting Bakura into his mind. They were sure that after Bakura had gone into Ryou's mind to find the shadow hiding in there that the silver haired yami would have said SOMETHING about what he saw. But he'd only been going through Ryou's memories for barely five minutes before he re-appeared and looked rather ill. That was the last time Yugi had seen Ryou or Bakura. Yugi couldn't help but wonder if it was really that bad. But then again, if it was anything like what Malik had gone though, Yugi could understand why Ryou wouldn't want to tell anyone.

Yugi frowned as he continued to dwell on this thought. Now that he thought about it Ryou never did talk about his past, not at all. Yugi knew that Ryou's dad was an archeologist and spent more time in Egypt then he did at home. But what about his mother? Yugi wondered. Had Ryou's parents gotten a divorce? Was she still in England? Did he have any other family? Bothers, sisters?

'You know,' Yami said cutting into Yugi's thoughts. 'If you want to know why don't you just ask him?' He suggested. Yugi jumped and turned to face Yami who was smiling at him.

"I was just thinking." He replied.

"I could tell. Even without listening to your thoughts." Yami chuckled softly. "You seem to have a lot on your mind today though. I can't quite keep up with all your thoughts."

Yugi blushed and looked away.

"Well, there's not much else to do. We still can't go outside because we don't know where the shadow is. And even if we COULD go outside, I wouldn't want to until I know that Ryou is going to be okay."

"Bakura is handling it." Yami said. "He's already told me and Marik he's at least close to getting the shadow out of Ryou. What happens after that will depend on how strong the shadow has gotten."

Yami watched the back of Yugi's head for a few moments before walking around and sitting in front of him.

"Yugi, I think it might be safer if you and Malik stayed out of the way once the shadow is out." Yami looked at Yugi locking eyes with him.

"out of the way?" Yugi asked staring at Yami unable to keep the hurt out of his voice. /I'm just in the way?/ He thought frowning and looking down.

//I didn't mean it like that Aibou.// Yami said through their link and made Yugi look back up at him. "I just don't want you to get hurt. We don't know what is going to happen. And we don't want to take any chances." Yugi sighed and nodded, sliding from his chair and standing up. He gave Yami a small smile before going to find Malik. Yugi could feel Yami watching him and bit his lip. All he'd ever wanted was to see Yami again, to be near him. And to be held by him. Yugi had told himself he'd be satisfied with just that. But he wasn't. His feelings for Yami were just as strong as they always were. And Yugi was still just as scared to tell Yami how he felt. Scared of being rejected? No, Yugi knew Yami would never reject him. And if he did, Yugi knew that Yami would have a good reason for it. No, Yugi was scared because he didn't know what would happen after all this was over. After the shadows were gone, would the yami's leave as well?

Yugi stood outside Malik's door for a few moments before continuing on down the hall to his own room. He closed the door and went over to the bed and laid down. He looked around, it was his room, but it didn't feel like his room. It didn't feel like ˜home' Yugi made sure his mental block was up before letting his mind wander again. This time it wandered back to the game shop. He knew he hadn't locked the door when he'd left a week ago. He wondered if Jou had locked it after picking up a few of Yugi's things for him.

"Jou" Yugi said to himself putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. He wondered what had become of his best friend. Was he with the people controlling the shadows? Was the shadow still possessing Jou? Yugi figured it must be because Jou hadn't come back all week. He looked at his bed side table and picked up his cellphone. Flipping it open he tried Jou's cell. But like every day for the past week, there was no answer. Yugi didn't even care if it was Jou who answered, as long as someone answered. Yugi might have been able to find out what happened to Jou. And where he was. Yugi set his cell phone back down and sighed. He felt the guilt start to settle in again. Jou had been there for him for the two years while Yami had been gone. And now when Jou needed help the most Yugi couldn't do a thing for him.

"Stupid shadows!" He said softly rolling over onto his side and closing his eyes deciding to take a nap. Maybe when he woke up he'd find out that all of this was just a dream. He found himself thinking as he drifted to sleep, was having his yami back worth losing his best friend? Yugi couldn't help but feel that the clock was ticking closer to the time when he would have to choose between his other half, the person he had grown to love more then anything. And his best friend, the person who had always been there for him.

Jou groaned as he sat up slowly putting a hand on his head. He didn't know why he felt like this, all he knew was that he wasn't getting any better. And having to stay at Seto's house wasn't helping matters at all.

//Finally awake.// Jou groaned again and fell back onto his pillow.

"...not you again!" He said sounding tired. "What do you want now?" He asked. Jou was surprised that over the past few days he had grown accustom to hearing that voice in his head. Even though he still didn't know who it belonged to. All he knew was that it was annoying and he wanted it to leave.

//I can't leave, I've told you that already.// The voice said. //I am ordered to stay right where I am. And if I have to stay here and starve, I am NOT going to be bored out of my mind while doing it!//

"Well, if you tell me what you eat I'd be able to get something for you." Jou said, even though he still didn't know HOW he would get the voice to eat since he didn't exactly know where it was. Though he had a pretty good feeling.

//You can't help me with that. Unless you can think of something that get's you upset, or causes you pain. Then you can't help me.//

"Does thinking of Kaiba count?" Jou asked.

//No. Not in the slightest.// He grumbled. Jou shook his head again.

"So, you feed off people's feelings?" Jou asked trying to see if he got that right.

//Not quite. I feed off negative feelings. Pain, fear, hatred. Stuff like that.// The shadow didn't know why he was having this conversation, especially with someone who was just supposed to be his hiding place, but it just went to prove how bored he'd gotten in just the past few days.

"So, if you're that hungry why don't you leave me alone and go find something to eat? And stop giving me a headache." Jou could actually FEEL the shadow thinking about that and it gave him the creeps. He wondered if this is what Yugi had felt when Yami had been around.

//That is actually a good idea. But, I can not leave.// In a flash the Shadow had taken over Jou's body and frowned at how heavy it felt. "Are you sick or something?" The shadow asked as he stood up pulling some pants on and a shirt. He looked around the room deciding not to use the front door, he headed to the window. Opening it, he jumped out onto the tree and climbed down. The whole time ignoring Jou's yells of protest.

//Hey! You can't just go using my body like that! What if you get me killed!//

"Then I won't be hungry any more. I heard dying hurts like a bitch. And then I'll just find another vessel to hide out in for a while." The shadow said simply and left Kaiba's house. He walked down the street looking around. He was soon becoming rather frustrated however when no one seemed to be having a bad day. No one was in any pain. At least not the people he was passing.

//Are you done yet?// Jou asked not liking the fact that the shadow was using HIS body and he was still awake to actually see what was going on. It was kind of disturbing now that he thought about it. //Note to self, ask Yugi about this next time I see him.// Jou said. The thought had meant to be for himself, but it made the Shadow stop walking and smirk.

"Thank you, I know just where to get a good meal now." chuckling the shadow took off at a run. It didn't take him long to reach the building where he knew Yugi was. He looked up and could easily spot the penthouse. Unlike humans, the shadow could see the magic still surrounding the penthouse.

//oi! Leave Yugi alone! You're causing enough trouble!// Jou shouted and the shadow ignored him. He decided the best way to Yugi's window would be to go up to the roof and climb down from there. He headed into the lobby and straight for the elevator taking it to the top floor before climbing the stairs to the roof.

//What the hell are you doing up here?!//

"Would you shut up already?" The shadow snapped. "You're making it really hard for me to concentrate, and if I miss this let's just say I don't think your body would look too good spread across the pavement." That shut Jou up for a moment or two. The shadow looked down at the balcony below him and jumped down onto it. He looked over the edge again, he could see the penthouse, it was two more floors down. Climbing over the railing he swung down onto the next balcony and did it again until he reached the right one. He looked inside and a smirk appeared on his face.

"Well, well, well. Looks like things are getting VERY interesting indeed." He said when he spotted Yami sitting in the living room. "Perhaps after I eat I'll deal with him." He said and climbed onto the railing of the balcony carefully climbing over to Yugi's window the whole time cursing his orders to stay inside this body. If he'd been able to just come out he could easily make it over to Yugi's window. Sitting on the ledge he pushed the window open and climbed in careful not to wake the sleeping boy, at least, not yet. He went over and locked the door looking down at Jou's hands. "This body does have it's advantages I suppose, I never would have made it through the shield otherwise."

//Yeah, whatever. Listen, I don't care WHAT you are...if you harm Yugi I'll...//

"You, foolish one, can not do anything. So don't make empty threats. And I don't plan on hurting him. He's hurting enough without my help. I can get a decent meal from him." the shadow said moving over and sitting on the bed reaching over he placed a finger on Yugi's forehead. //Don't do anything stupid.// The shadow ordered Jou as it slowly left the blond boy's body. And as Yugi breathed in deeply the shadow entered the sleeping boy. Jou fell back off the bed landing with a small 'thud'. He growled. Don't do anything stupid huh? Well, going to get Yami wasn't stupid. Jou stood up and quickly headed over to the door unlocking it. As he tried to open the door however, the door locked itself. When Jou tried to unlock it again he found that he couldn't.

"Son of a bitch." He growled and looked over at Yugi who was still sound asleep. "You are so going to pay for this." He said to the shadow who was doing only gods knew what to Yugi.

In the other room Ryou was curled up clinging to Marik and crying. He could feel Bakura fighting with the shadow inside him. Malik, who had not listened to his yami was sitting next to Ryou stroking his hair.

"It's okay Ryou." Malik said. "Shhh, it's okay I promise." He said soothingly, trying to keep the other hikari calm. Malik and Marik looked over when the door opened and Yami came in.

"How's it going?" He asked.

"Don't know. Bakura's been in there for about an hour now." Marik said.

"..please, please stop! I don't want to.please uncle!" Ryou pleaded. He'd been doing that for the past forty minutes. Marik looked at Yami who frowned, listening to Ryou's words.

"His uncle?" He asked. Malik nodded.

"Whatever happened really hurt Ryou. Me and Marik have decided, we're not going to bring it up. If Ryou wants to tell us fine, but we're not going to push him for details."

"Not that you really need any." Yami said sitting down on the end of the bed. As he did this Ryou's whole body jerked violently and he screamed. Bakura reappeared, collapsing onto the floor as if he'd just been hit. The shadow appeared standing over him laughing. Yami and Marik were instantly on their feet. Malik held onto Ryou who was trembling.

"You're through tormenting Ryou!" Bakura snapped as he stood up his eyes flashing dangerously. The shadow laughed again.

"Yes, I am done with him." The shadow admitted. This caught the yami's slightly off guard but they were very good at not showing it. "HE is here." The shadow said grinning. "And if he is here, then I have no more reason to be."

"What?" Yami blinked and before anyone could even think of moving the shadow turned to vapor and vanished into the shadow realm. Bakura went to go after him but Yami stopped him. "You go in there and there's no way to get you back again!" Yami yelled as the portal to the shadow realm closed.

"Besides, it was too small, I doubt you'd even be able to get that big head of yours through." Marik said putting the millennium rod away.

"Shut it!" Bakura snapped and went over sitting next to Ryou. He watched his hikari as he clung to Malik shaking and whimpering. The shadow might be gone, but Ryou was still tormented by those memories.

"Ryou." He said. Ryou slowly turned his head to look at Bakura. "It's over." He said. Ryou sniffed and wiped his eyes. Bakura mentally growled to himself. He wanted to hold Ryou and comfort him. But he couldn't make himself move. Finally he shoved his pride aside and pulled Ryou onto his lap. Ryou blinked in surprise, Bakura had held him like this when it had just been the two of them in the room. But he never thought his yami would show affection for anything or anyone, especially if Yami was around.

"If I turn around and you are smirking at me I swear to Ra that I'll shave your head while you're asleep." Bakura threatened Yami without looking at him. Marik chuckled watching Yami stop smiling at once. He looked down at Ryou then looked at Bakura.

We can make him forget. He said in Egyptian.

I didn't want to use that spell on him. Bakura admitted. "Ryou." He said gently and waited for his hikari to look at him again. "If remembering hurts that much. There is a spell." Bakura said and Ryou blinked.

"...a spell?"

"To make you forget." Bakura said and watched Ryou look down thinking in silence for a while. Bakura was starting to wonder if Ryou had fallen asleep when the silver haired hikari looked back up at him.

"No." He said making Bakura blink at him. "I want to forget. I mean, I did forget a lot, until the shadow came." Ryou explained. "The past can hurt. But despite that I've still learned from it."

"Learned what? Not to trust your family?" Bakura asked obviously holding back a growl. Ryou shook his head.

"No, it taught me to be strong. I just...I don't like being forced to remember things I'm not ready to remember. But I still don't want you to erase them from my memory. Because what will happen if I suddenly remember again some day?" Ryou said not sure if he was making much sense.

"That's right." Malik said smiling a little. "The longer you run from something, the longer it hurts, and the worse it seems." Malik wrapped his arms around Ryou holding him close. "But you know what? You're not alone Ryou." He said kissing Ryou's cheek making the silver haired boy blush and hide his face in Bakura's shoulder. Yami shook his head and turned heading to the door.

"Oi, where you going Pharaoh?" Marik asked.

"I'm going to get Yugi." He said and closed the door behind him.

TBC 


	11. Chapter 11

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Now being BetaRead by: Tavi  
Chapter eleven: Shadowed secrets

Jou paced back and forth next to Yugi's bed, stopping to watch his friend once in a while. He kept silently cursing the shadow. All he could think about was what the shadow could be doing to Yugi. And what Yami would say when he found out. He was sure by now the pharaoh had heard about everything that had happened since the shadows had shown up. Jou stopped pacing when he heard a knock on the door.

"Yugi?" Yami called through the door. Hearing Yami did NOT make Jou feel any better. After all Jou was still supposed to be possessed by the shadow. And Jou was afraid that if Yami saw him the former pharaoh would act first and ask questions later. Upon not receiving an answer Yami knocked again, louder this time.

"Yugi?" He called again. Jou looked at Yugi who rolled over on his bed but didn't wake up. The door handle jiggled as Yami tried to open the door. "Aibou why is the door locked?" The handle moved again. "Yugi?" Yami was sounding more worried now and Jou wondered if he had tried to speak in Yugi's mind. And then wondered if Yami would have been able to with the shadow inside Yugi. Jou closed his eyes and took a deep breath, deciding to talk to Yami now while there was a door between them.

"Yami?" Jou called through the door.. There was a sudden silence on the other side. "Yami, it's alright, it's me." Jou said. "The shadow brought me here and-" Jou was suddenly cut off by a loud crash as the door went flying off the hinges. Yami stood there, his eyes seemed to be glowing red as he glared at Jou. He glanced at Yugi and then back at the blond boy.

"What did you do?"

Jou held up his hands. "Yami! I didn't do anything! Not on purpose! The shadow brought me here. Saying he was hungry or something." Yami walked towards Jou, not looking convinced. Jou pointed at Yugi. "The shadow went inside him!" He yelped, trying to get Yami's attention on where the REAL problem was. That and he wasn't very fond of making a trip to the shadow realm.

"Yami! What was that- JOU!!!" Malik said as he came running into the room freezing in his tracks when he saw Jou there. Jou looked at Malik and then at the bandages that wrapped up Malik's shoulder and he winced.

"Uh, sorry about that." He said motioning towards Malik's shoulder. He hadn't been 'awake' when that had happened. But the shadow had been bored one day and decided to play out the whole thing over and over just for Jou.

"You have a lot of nerve showing your face here." Jou looked at the door and paled when he saw Marik standing there, the knife from the millennium rod in his hands. Before Jou could say anything he found that he was being bound by what looked like black rope. He looked at Yami who had his hand up and it was glowing a darkish purple.

"That should hold you until we get to the bottom of what's going on." Yami said and then turned his attention to Yugi. He sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to wake Yugi. Only to find an invisible barrier surrounding the smaller boy. The barrier rippled like water when Yami touched it and he pulled his hand away when it sparked at him.

"I told you!" Jou said. "The shadow went into him!" Jou suddenly wished he could disappear as the three boys in the room turned to glare at him. "Damnit! Stop looking at me like that!" Jou shouted, getting frustrated. "I didn't DO anything! I was being possessed by that fucking SHADOW! So stop looking at me like it's my fault!"

"If you were able to protect your mind you wouldn't have been possessed." Marik said, still glaring. "And after all the times you've been taken control of I would think you would have at least a little resistance to things forcing their way into you." Marik winced when he felt Malik elbow him.

"Nevertheless." Yami said looking at Jou. "You will stay bound like that. I am sorry Jou. But there is no way to tell if there is still a shadow inside you or not. Not right now anyway." Yami said and looked back at Yugi.

//Aibou, please be safe.// He said but received no answer.

-------------

Yugi sat in his soul room just looking around. He hadn't been in here since Yami left. And he was surprised at how much it had changed. There were still toys and stuff laying around the floor and a couple posters here and there. But it seemed a bit colder. Not as welcoming as it had been before. Yugi wondered if that would change now that Yami was back. And he wondered if he would be able to go visit Yami's soul room. Yugi also wondered what it looked like now. Last time he'd been there it had been nothing but a maze. Smiling a little to himself Yugi decided to go see.

As he opened the door to his soul he stepped out and looked around staring. Now this was different. He was in a hall way, but there was no door across from his.

"Yugi." A voice whispered, and seemed to echo softly through the hall. Yugi shuddered and stepped back to his own soul room.

"Do not be afraid." The voice said and Yugi looked down the hall when he saw some movement. He saw figure outlined in the shadows.

"Yami?" He asked.

"Yugi, come with me." The figure said. Yugi stared at the figure, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. But he was SURE that the outline of the shadow was Yami. So Yugi stepped forward.

"Yami I can't see you." Yugi said stopping half way to the shadow.

"You won't be able to see me properly. We are not connected like we used to be." The shadow said holding out his hand. "If you would like to see me properly, we can be reconnected." He said smiling at Yugi who was now moving closer. "Just come with me." He said. Yugi frowned and looked back at his soul room door that was still open slightly. It might have been a bit chilly in there, but it was warmer in there then it was out here. Yugi was sure of that. He looked back at Yami still getting that uneasy feeling.

/This is Yami. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me./ Yugi told himself firmly before putting his hand in the shadows. The Shadow smirked and then began leading Yugi further down the hallway away from the soul room, the only source of light.

"Yami it's dark down here. I don't think I like it." Yugi said after they had walked for a while and Yugi could no longer see the light from his soul room.

"It's alright little one. It's only dark because this is the deepest part of your mind. There is something here, I must show you." The shadow said. Yugi shivered and tried moving closer to 'Yami' but only grew colder. Finally they stopped walking and Yugi could see a very dim light not far from them. It was shining on a door that had chains and locks everywhere on it.

"Yami, what's that?"

"That, little one, is what I wanted to show you. You must open that door, it will open the bond between us again. Making it just as strong as it used to be." The shadow said and slowly let go of Yugi's hand. Yugi yelped and tried to reach out to grab Yami again but couldn't find him.

"Yami!?"

"Open the door little one. I am waiting for you." The voice said sounding more distant and Yugi looked at the door hurrying over. Something about the door frightened him. But he wanted Yami. So with out really thinking he started pulling at the chains, surprised at how easily they fell off. As the chains fell off and dissolved one by one Yugi's head started hurting. He ignored it and continued pulling at the chains. He only had a few left, and he could hear someone crying on the other side of the door now. Was Yami crying? Yugi half wondered as he pulled another one off. Someone screamed and Yugi grabbed two chains pulling them off at once. Someone was yelling. Another chain. Yugi grabbed the last one and pulled, this one harder then the others to pull off.

"OPEN!" Yugi cried and the chain dissolved in his hands the door slowly opening. As it did Yugi felt as if his head was splitting in two and he was pulled through the door. It slamming shut behind him.

Yugi found himself standing in the middle of a living room that looked slightly familiar. A small boy no older then two was sitting on the floor playing with two toy trucks crashing them into each other.

"bam." The boy said as the trucks crashed into each other again. The boy giggled and did it again. Yugi stared at the boy and looked around wondering where the boy's parents were. The front door opened and Yugi turned to see a woman with long blond hair. Yugi stared at her, his eyes slightly wide. The woman came into the living room and set down the bag she was carrying. Yugi noticed how tired she looked as she walked right by the two year old who had jumped up to his feet and was now trying to hug her.

"Mama!" The two year old followed her as she picked up his toys and tossed them into a box that sat in the corner. Still not paying much attention to the boy following her around, she went back over and picked up the bag she had set down and went to the kitchen. The small boy followed her. Yugi did too, still in a slight daze unable to take his eyes off the woman. Yugi saw the boy climbing up onto a chair, then the stool, and then onto the counter. This seemed to get the woman's attention. 

"Oh! There you are Yugi." She said, as if just noticing him seeming to have come out of a daze she'd been in since entering the house.

"Mama" The little boy sang, holding his arms out. The woman smiled and hugged him, lifting him off the counter.

"You gonna help mama put the food away?" She asked and the little Yugi nodded his head, giggling as he was set down and given a small bag of food to go through and put away.

Yugi leaned on the door casing, still staring at the scene in front of him."Mom." He said softly feeling his eyes burn. He hadn't thought about her in so long. Yugi wondered if he had truly forgotten about her. He knew he didn't remember what she had looked like. But seeing her again now made Yugi wonder how he could have forgotten her. Yugi turned his attention to little Yugi who was picking up a large jug of apple juice and trying to carry it to the fridge.

"Careful." His mother said and helped him put it in the fridge. Yugi was about to walk over to stand in front of the island that was in the kitchen and watch his mother more. When the front door slammed open again. Yugi jumped and spun around, as did his mother.

"Oh." She smiled when she saw who it was. It was her husband, walking over she kissed him on the cheek. "Welcome home dear." She said. "I was just about to start dinner."

"Good, I'm starving." He said taking his coat off and hanging it up. Yugi stared at the man frowning. He remembered his mother, but, why couldn't he remember this man, who was obviously his father. Little Yugi hurried over to hug the man.

"Daddy" Little Yugi giggled latching onto the man's leg hugging him. The man glared down at the boy with a look of pure hatred that made even Yugi back up a few steps.

"Umm, Yugi, why don't you go up to your room? I'll bring you some dinner in a bit." His mother said. Little Yugi pouted and left the room. Yugi was forced to follow his smaller self. Even though he wanted to stay in the kitchen with his parents, but Yugi knew that all this was only a memory, and you couldn't stay and listen to a conversation if you didn't remember it.

The little boy opened his door and walked inside closing it behind him before going over to his toy chest and climbing into it. It was then that Yugi could hear raised voices down stairs and Yugi's eyes widened as he heard his parents yelling at each other.

"Why, why don't I remember this?" Yugi asked sitting down on the bed. As he did the room faded into black for a few moments as Yugi was pulled into another memory. This time Yugi was in the room by himself for a few seconds before little Yugi ran into the room slamming the door behind him, looking terrified.

"Yugi? Sweetie are you in there?" Yugi heard his mother call through the door. Little Yugi locked the door and backed away. Yugi was confused by this. He remembered his mother being a kind, gentle woman, and even when she was angry she was never scary.

"Yugi, sweetie open the door." His mother called. The sound of keys were heard before the door unlocked and she stepped in. Little Yugi stood there staring at his mother with wide fearful eyes. Both her hands were behind her back as she moved closer to him.

"Mama are, are you feeling better?" Little Yugi asked. Yugi jumped and screamed when he saw his mother move quickly pinning little Yugi to the floor easily with one hand, in her other hand was a large kitchen knife. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked at her son.

"It has to be like this, it won't go away." She cried, raising the knife and thrusting it down. Little Yugi screamed and the weight was suddenly pulled off him. His little hands clutching at the deep wound in his neck.

"NO! LET ME GO!" His mother screamed. Yugi watched as his father pulled the screaming and crying woman from the room. "HE HAS TO DIE!!!" Yugi sat next to the still bleeding five year old watching him. He heard a door slam at the end of the hallway before loud footsteps came back to the room.

"Damnit boy! What did you do this time!?" Yugi's father snapped and picked the five year old up carrying him to the bathroom. Setting him down on the side of the tub, he proceeded to bandage the boy's neck and stop the bleeding.

"Daddy." Little Yugi whimpered, a loud slap echoed off the walls of the small bathroom.

"Do NOT call me that. I am not your father." He growled. Yugi was still sitting on the floor in the bedroom a hand at his own throat. He had removed the buckle he normally wore around his neck. He couldn't remember when he'd started wearing the buckle, but the reason had been the scar. Yugi had forgotten where it had come from. And never bothered asking his grandfather about it. Because he'd had the scar when he'd first gone to live with his grandfather. As Yugi thought this, he couldn't help but realize he didn't remember WHY he'd gone to live with his grandfather.

As if answering his question, the memory shifted again. This time it was night and Yugi was now sitting in the hallway at the top of the stairs.

"Mama please, I didn't mean it!" an eight year old Yugi cried pulling at his arm that was in a vice grip. The woman didn't pay any attention to him. And Yugi looked at her, the once bright eyes were now dead and sunken, it looked as if she hadn't slept in months. Little Yugi continued crying as he held onto the railing, stopping her from dragging him down the stairs. "Mama please!" he cried more.

"There's no other way they said, if you die, it will all stop. I want it to stop. I don't care how it's done, I just want it to stop." She said dully. Little Yugi's eyes filled with tears and he pulled with all his might, getting his arm free. Turning, he ran back up the few steps he'd been pulled down only to feel a bony hand wrap around his ankle making him fall face first on the floor.

"No!" His mother screamed her eyes flashing dangerously. "If you will not come. I'LL KILL YOU HERE!" She lunged her hands out stretched for little Yugi's neck. Yugi screamed and kicked out. His scream mixed with his mother's for a moment before the sound of a body falling down the stairs could be heard. Little Yugi sat there panting as he lay on the floor for a few moments before sitting up and looking down to see if his mother would be coming back up to get him again.

Yugi also looked down at the bottom of the stairs expecting to see the woman running back up them a look of murder on her face. What he saw however, was his mother lying limply on the floor, her arm bent in what looked like a rather painful way, her eyes still open but glazed over as blood began soaking her once golden hair. Yugi looked over at the boy who was staring at his mother in horror.

As a car pulled into the drive way the lights illuminated the body. The sound of a car door slamming shut was heard and only a few moments later the front door opened.

"Keiko, I'm home." A man's voice called. "Kei-" the name was cut off and Yugi knew his father was standing just out of sight of the stairs, but had spotted the body. The rest of the memory was a complete blur. Catching flashes here and there Yugi saw his father yelling. But didn't hear anything. He saw the police, and more of his father yelling. He saw buildings moving by as they drove. Yugi saw planes landing and taking off. Saw the airport, and then his final destination, the game shop where his grandfather lived. And where Yugi had grown up. Where Yugi had gone to live, after, he had killed his mother.  
Everything faded to black again and Yugi sat curled up in the darkness of his mind and could hear someone laughing. Someone enjoying the fact that Yugi was in pain. But the only thing on Yugi's mind, besides the sight of his mother's body. Was that he had to get back to Yami. Yami would keep him safe, keep him safe from the memories. Keep him safe from the pain. Using all the energy he had, Yugi stood up and numbly started walking.

/Yami/ his mind whispered brokenly.

TBC 


	12. Chapter 12

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Now being BetaRead by: Tavi  
Chapter twelve: Pain in shadows

Yugi had made it back to his soul room and was now sitting on his bed hugging his knees close. The memory still seemed to be playing itself out in front of him. He let out a bitter laugh, it all made sense to him now. Why, whenever things seemed to be going great, and he was actually happy for a while, it never lasted. Why his life seemed to be falling a part piece by piece.

"Yami..." Yugi said softly as he started rocking back and forth. He wanted nothing more then to have his yami close. His other half had always brought him comfort when nothing else could. Making a decision Yugi disappeared from his soul room so he could wake up.

Yugi could hear voices now. People were in his room. He immediately recognized Ryou and Malik's voices. Yugi slowly opened his eyes turning his head a little so he could see. He stared, his vision blurry. Ryou was standing in the doorway, Bakura by his side, holding his hikari up. Yugi noticed that Ryou looked tired and weak. As if he'd been drained of energy. Shifting his eyes, Yugi spotted Malik and Marik. Marik was looking towards the end of Yugi's bed glaring at something. It was then that Yugi noticed that everyone on the room was looking at something. Looking down Yugi blinked when he saw Jou standing there, bound by ropes that were obviously created from shadow magic. Yugi couldn't help but feel relieved at seeing his friend again. Jou was here. He was alright.

Yugi let his eyes fall closed again, still feeling tired. He shivered as he felt something cold wrap around his body. The image of his mother flashed in front of his eyes and he snapped them open hoping that would get rid of it. But he still felt cold.

"Y-Yami..." Yugi said, his teeth chattering. Everyone seemed to now have their attention on him.

"Yugi! You're awake!" Yami said, kneeling next to the bed and reaching out to touch Yugi. But his hand met with the same barrier it had before and he pulled his hand away before he could get zapped. Yugi didn't seem to notice the barrier though. His eyes widened and tears filled his eyes when he saw Yami pull his hand away before even touching him.

"...Yami..." Yugi whimpered, burying his face in the pillow. Yami stared when he saw the shadowy mist swirling around Yugi. It took shape and was laying on the bed it's arm wrapped around Yugi.

"Poor little Yugi." It hissed into his ear.

Yami narrowed his eyes at the shadow. "Get away from my hikari!" He snapped, the third eye glowing on his forehead. The shadow slowly looked up and smirked before sliding off the bed and standing in front of Yami.

"You think you frighten me Pharaoh? I am made from fear. I know what your greatest fear is. And your greatest pain." The shadow advanced on Yami still smirking. Marik and Bakura were standing next to Yami before the shadow could get any closer.

"What do you want here?" Marik asked his grip tightening on the Millennium Rod. The shadow's eyes drifted down to the item and then looked back at Marik. "What do I want?" He grinned. "You of all people should already know that Marik." The shadow glanced at Ryou and Malik who were slowly making their way around to the bed to see how Yugi was. Marik stared at the shadow, his own eyes widened a little in surprise. Before anyone could react a burst of wind whipped through the room. The three Hikari's screamed as objects started flying around the room nearly hitting them in the head.

Yami covered his face, backing away from the shadow who just looked around frowning. "Damn show off. What the fuck do you want NOW!?"

"Return! IMMEDIATELY!" A voice boomed through the room. Yugi lifted his head a little, that voice sounded slightly familiar. But he didn't have time to register it before he had to duck a flying book. "You disobeyed a direct order!"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm coming." The shadow growled. Turning into a mist again he retreated back into Jou.

"Aw man not again!" Jou grumbled as his consciousness was taken over yet again. The ropes disintegrated and the Shadow went back over to the window, opening it. Looking back into the room he waved almost cheerfully at the three Yami's, who were giving him looks that promised a very slow and painful death.  
"...until next time!" And with that, he jumped. The wind stopped immediately and objects fell from where they had stopped in the air. Marik yelped as a rather large hard covered book hit him on the head. Malik sat up rubbing his head frowning. He looked down at Yugi and Ryou. Ryou looked ready to pass out. And Yugi looked pale, his eyes wide open. Malik waved a hand in front of Yugi's face. Yugi slowly shifted his eyes to look at Malik.

"...Yugi, what did the shadow do?" Malik asked.

"...he didn't do anything." Yugi said slowly sitting up. As he did he suddenly found two arms wrapped around him pulling him close. Yugi blinked in surprise. "Yami...?" He asked his hands trembling.

//I was so worried for you hikari.// Yami said mentally. Yugi's hands were shaking more but he did not return the pharaoh's embrace.

/I'm not./ Yugi said in return. Yami blinked in confusion and pulled back looking at Yugi who lowered his head.

"You're not what hikari?"

"Don't call me that! I'm not..." Yugi swallowed. He had no right to be called a hikari. A hikari was someone pure and innocent. Yugi let out a small bitter laugh backing away from Yami. Putting a hand on his head.

"Yugi...what's wrong. You're really worrying me." Yami said. Marik and Bakura were also watching the smallest hikari. Even though neither of them could say they really LIKED the boy. They too were worried about what the shadow might have done.

"It's ironic..." Yugi said, laughing again as he looked up at Yami his eyes shining with tears. "That someone like ME would be a hikari." Yugi said ignoring the bewildered looks he was getting. He knew he was sounding a little hysterical at the moment. But he couldn't bring himself to care. Not any more. "I mean, why me? Why was I chosen?"

"Because you have a kind heart Yugi. And you'd never hurt any-"

"HA!" Yugi cut Yami off so quickly pointing his finger at Yami. "That, Yami, is where you're wrong." Yugi said. "I have hurt people!" When it looked like Yami was going to say something Yugi continued quickly. "Before I put the puzzle together." Yugi started. "Jou and Honda got beat up at school because of me."

"That wasn't your fault." Yami said. "You weren't the one who beat them up." Yugi actually narrowed his eyes.

"But I might as well have been! Duelist Kingdom! Battle City!"

"Actually, that was mostly my handiwork." Marik said crossing his arms. "I won't let you take credit for that one kid."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!" Yugi shouted. "You don't get it! NONE OF YOU DO!"

"Yugi, you're not making any sense!" Malik said taking his friend by the shoulders. Yugi pushed him away and fisted his hands in his hair. Yami looked on with sad eyes, watching Yugi struggling with himself.

"I hurt people, every where I go. And now Jou...Jou is..." Yugi collapsed to his knees and slammed his fists on the floor. "She should have killed me! She should have..." Bakura glared as he watched Yugi. He moved over and reached down grabbing Yugi by the back of the shirt and pulling him none to gently back to his feet.

"Bakura!" Yami and Ryou said at once. But Bakura ignored them as he forced Yugi to look at him.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Bakura snapped. "Life sucks, deal with it. I don't know what the hell you have been talking about but it's pissing me off. If you think you should die I would be more then happy too help you with that!" Yugi looked at Bakura eyes wide. This had always worked on Ryou when the silver haired hikari had been feeling sorry for himself. And had actually stopped him a few times from killing himself. Because, all in all, Bakura knew that Ryou was actually afraid to die. This however, Bakura was actually worried when he saw a slight bit of hope in Yugi's eyes at the thought of someone killing him. He let Yugi go and immediately got a fist in the face from Yami.

"Don't you EVER treat my hikari like that again!" Bakura stumbled back from the force of the punch wiping his lip he glared back at Yami. He didn't say anything as he walked over taking Ryou by the wrist he led him out of the room.

"Come on Malik." Marik said leaving Yami and Yugi alone. Yami watched them close the door and looked back at Yugi who had moved back over to the bed and was now laying down again, hugging a pillow tightly. Yami sat down next to him and ran his fingers through Yugi's hair. Yugi closed his eyes and let his tears fall. Yami didn't say anything, because he didn't know what to say. Yugi was in so much pain, Yami could feel it. But he didn't know what the cause of it was. And as he felt Yugi's barriers sliding up, he knew he was not going to be getting the answer any time soon.

--------

A loud scream echoed through the room before the shadow fell to the floor. Honda stood over him glaring. "What possessed you to confront the yami's like that!? Do you know how close you were to revealing everything!"

"I wouldn't have told them a damn thing and you know it." The shadow hissed. "I'm still under your command, unless you have forgotten that. And if you have then I might as well just leave." The shadow stood, glaring at Honda.

"I don't forget things that easily. And if you are still under my command then how do you explain how you disobeyed me?"

"I was hungry. And I found something rather tasty and couldn't resist." The shadow said with a shrug.

"Really?" Honda asked sounding interested now. "And what is it that you saw that was just to tasty that you couldn't resist?"

"In simple terms that even you can understand? An all you can eat buffet."

"Who?" Honda asked. "Ryou? Malik maybe?" He asked frowning when the shadow shook his head.

"The pharaoh's light." Honda raised an eyebrow at this. "That kid has more locked up in that mind of his then even his yami knows. His mind is a maze of pain."

"A maze? Like Yami's?" Honda asked remembering when he had seen inside the pharaoh's soul room.

"No, Yugi's maze is worse then that. Similar to the pharaoh's. But picture the pharaoh's maze in complete darkness."

"Alright, now you've got ME curious." Anzu said coming to stand next to Honda. "What is it that Yugi is hiding in that maze of his?" The shadow narrowed his eyes at Anzu. He had no intention of telling them. Unless he was outright ordered to. But there was one major difference between Honda and Anzu. The shadow could at least lie to her.

"I don't know. I didn't get to see before he woke up." The shadow said with another shrug.

"Then tell us." Honda said. "What DID you see?" The shadow narrowed his eyes at Honda silently cursing him. Oh this boy would regret the day he ever tried to command the shadows. The shadow would make sure of that.

"He killed his mother." The shadow said in a low hiss. His voice full of loathing for the two in front of him.

"Hmm. Now that is very interesting. Very interesting indeed." Honda turned and started pacing, his mind working out a new plan of action. "I think, it is time to put our plan into action." He said stopping and turning to look at Anzu. "Anzu. I think you should prepare the 'guest rooms'." Honda said watching Anzu's face light up before she nodded and hurried off. Honda looked back at the shadow.

"And as for you. I don't care how you do it. Bring all three of the Hikari's here. WITHOUT their annoying yami's."

The shadow bowed and disappeared going back to Jou's body. He would have to return to Seto's and think of a plan of action there.

TBC 


	13. Chapter 13

The shadow realm is sealed, Yami's spirit is free, Bakura and Marik have been sealed in the shadow realm for good. The natural balance of things can return to normal. So then, why after two years are things in the other realm still shifting? What are these shadows that the three hikari's keep seeing? And how will they deal with it without their yami's?

Reviews

Tatiana: nods yes, Yugi will be alright in the end. What he has to do now is mainly get over the shock of knowing he killed his mother, and his father didn't want him.

Dragonlady222: Yes It was self defense. - and Yugi knows it was. But he also hates hurting people.

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Now being BetaRead by: Tavi  
Chapter thirteen: movement in the shadows

(AN: This first section is being stretched out mainly for the Seto/Jou fans. I can promise everyone else who isn't fond of this couple You can skip this and miss little to nothing of the actual story!)

The shadow climbed back through the window at Seto's house letting go of Jou's body he watched the blond boy stumble before falling to the floor unable to hold himself up. The shadow frowned watching this. He hadn't realized that his presence in the boy's body had caused such a strain on him.

"damn you…" Jou grumbled struggling to get up. "Why the hell are you doing this?" He asked stumbling to the bed.

"Because I have no choice."

"Everyone has a choice." Jou said sitting on the bed still not looking at the shadow. There was a loud knocking on the door and Jou groaned standing he stumbled over to the door and opened it half noticing the shadow had drifted into a corner where he would be mostly unseen.

Seto stood there and frowned at Jou. He hadn't seen or heard from Jou since he'd brought him home the day before. Assuming the blond boy had been sleeping the whole time. But as Seto looked him over, it was easy to tell that Jou looked worse now then he had the day before. This worried the CEO.

"What do you want?" Jou asked sounding rather grumpy.

"I came to see how you were doing. And I think I'm going to go call a doctor." He said and turned to leave when Jou grabbed his arm.

"I don't need a doctor." He said but didn't look very convincing when he tried narrowing his eyes at Seto then just let them close instead. Seto caught Jou before his legs gave out. Jou made a sound of protest when he felt Seto lift him up and put him back on the bed.

"You stubborn mutt. You are obviously sick. You can hardly stand."

"Don' call me a mutt…" Jou growled opening his eyes to look at Seto and was surprised to see a look of concern on the taller boys face. Jou looked away not wanting too see it. It was then that he saw the shadow still standing in the corner.

"What are you lookin at?" Jou glared. Seto frowned thinking that Jou was talking to him, but before he could even give an answer, someone else answered.

"I can see why you never had much pain for me to feed off of." The shadow said making his presence known to Seto as he stepped out of the shadows. But he was still looking at Jou. "It is because you are happy to get attention from the one you love. And it doesn't matter what kind of attention that is." The shadow smirked watching Jou's face turn bright red. Seto looked from the shadow to Jou then back again. He narrowed his eyes as he easily put two and two together.

"You're the reason Jou is sick." Seto practically growled. He didn't want to seem over protective of the blond boy. But Seto had always tried his best to look out for Jou. Playing it off as a mistake. Or that he was doing it because his brother asked him to. The shadow chuckled looking.

"Not my fault he has a weak body." He said with a shrug. "doesn't matter, I'm done with him now. I have my orders." He looked back at Jou who was still staring at him. "You'll be useless to me from now on anyway. You're too damn happy, even when doing something stupid." And with that, the shadow turned and vanished leaving both boys sitting there looking slightly stunned. Seto frowned and pulled out his cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Jou asked.

"Calling Malik." Jou just nodded and rested his head back on the pillow. "Just so you know." Jou said making the blue eyed boy stop and look at him. "The yamis are back." Seto stared about to ask how Jou knew this, but the blond boy had already passed out. He looked back at his cell phone sighing. He would call them later. After he was sure Jou was better when he woke up.

-------NON-Seto/Jou fans can start reading again! And sorry to all Seto/Jou fan's. I'm not good writing this couple.--------

Malik walked down the street as quickly as he could. It was late afternoon, and Malik knew he still had a couple hours before the sun set. But he was taking a big chance being outside. But they were a little low on food, and Malik didn't trust what Marik and Bakura would bring home. So Malik decided to sneak out of the house and get some stuff like milk and juice. And some meet for the yamis. He also wanted to see if he could find something that would help Yugi calm down. Malik had heard Yugi freak out, and Yami was still trying to get Yugi to calm down and try to figure out exactly what had the hikari so upset. When Malik had left Yugi had been near hysterics, which is what made it easy for Malik to slip out unnoticed.

Malik walked into the store and went down the first isle grabbing a few things. That's when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning he frowned when he didn't see anyone there. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he was suddenly regretting leaving the pent house.

/…Marik…/ Malik called his yami softly as he slowly moved down the isle still grabbing more stuff.

//Malik? What's wrong?// Marik asked. //…uh, where are you?// Malik knew that his yami had just checked his room and found that Malik was not where he'd last seen him.

/Uh…don't get mad at me please?/ Malik asked and was now moving a bit faster down the isle glancing over his shoulder every few steps. He knew something was following him, he could feel it. /We were low on food. And I figure I could come to the store and get back quickly…/

//YOU LEFT?!// Marik shouted through the link.

/I asked you not to be mad! I had to get some food, and I want to try and get something that will help Yugi calm down!/ Malik said turning down the next isle and froze as he noticed something he should have when he'd entered the store. It was the busiest time of day, people just getting out of work, rushing home to start dinner. But the store was completely empty. Malik swallowed and made his way back up to the front of the store looking around. All the lights for the registers were on, but again, not a single person could be seen anywhere.

//Malik Ishtar! Answer me!// Malik shook his head realizing that Marik had been talking to him probably for the past minute.

/Marik…I'm on my way home./ He promised dropping the basket of food he had and bolted for the door. As he ran out onto the streets he swallowed. It looked as if it were a ghost town. There was no cars, no people, no nothing. Malik took off down the street running as fast as he could. He reached the hotel and looked up. He saw someone standing on the balcony to his penthouse and sighed looking back down at the doors ready to head inside he froze again when he saw not the shadow that had possessed Jou. But Ryou's shadow.

He was smirking at Malik and stepped closer. "Poor little Malik." He said, his voice making Malik shudder feeling as if an icy wind had just blown right through him. "No yami out here to protect you. No one around at all." The shadow stepped forward Malik took a step back making the shadow smirk even more and continued moving closer forcing Malik to back up into the street.

----------

Up on the balcony Ryou was leaning on the railing looking down at the people walking along the side walk. He heard Marik shout from inside and sighed. He couldn't wait until this whole mess was over. Then he'd be able too go to the park and get some peace and quiet. He wondered how Malik dealt with such a loud yami. Bakura was loud when he was angry, but he was also a lot like Ryou and liked things quiet.

Ryou blinked when something in the crowd below caught his attention. He was to high up to be sure, but he was sure that that was Malik standing in front of the hotel. Ryou frowned more watching Malik closely. He looked like he was talking to someone, but Ryou couldn't see who. He watched the blond Egyptian back up quickly. It was then that Ryou noticed a flicker of black, like a shadow. The next thing Ryou knew Malik had backed up right into the street into the path of an oncoming car.

"MALIK!!!" Ryou screamed nearly falling off the balcony. But a pair of strong arms wrapped around him pulling him back. Ryou didn't see what happened but he heard a loud crash and was sure that Malik had been hit. "NO! LET ME GO! Malik! He…he…." Ryou trailed off as he looked behind him to see who was holding him. He thought it had been Bakura. But it wasn't.

"Malik is fine. He is being taken to the shadows." The shadow smirked at him. "You will be joining him soon. But first." The shadow smirked and vanished. Ryou shivered and collapsed. The next thing he knew someone was shaking him, and he heard Bakura's voice.

"Ryou, wake up."

"…'kura….?" Ryou asked blinking as he looked up at his yami. Bakura sighed looking relived.

"Ryou what happened? You suddenly screamed, and you nearly fell off the balcony." Bakura said and Ryou blinked at him again before his eyes went wide.

"Oh god…Malik! He…he was in the street! And then a car!" Ryou struggled to sit up.

"Ryou, calm down. You must have been dreaming. Malik is fine." Marik said standing over Ryou. "He went to get some food, he just got back." Marik said watching as Bakura stood up helping Ryou to his feet and led him into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Malik humming to himself as he put the food away.

"…but…I saw…"

//We're all under a lot of stress right now Ryou.// Bakura said wrapping his arms around the silver haired boy. "There was a car crash outside." Bakura said.

"Maybe you saw Malik before he came up here, and then saw the car crash." Marik suggested. Ryou frowned, he was sure about what he'd seen. But everything here was proving him wrong. He sighed and shook his head and decided that it had been stress and not enough sleep that made him see Malik in front of that car.

"Come on Ryou." Malik said taking Ryou's hand. "I got some medicine for Yugi. Let's go give it to him." Malik said pulling Ryou from the room. Ryou numbly followed Malik to Yugi's room still feeling like he was in a daze. They saw Yugi in a corner hugging his knees tightly as he rocked back and forth. He was mumbling something that they couldn't hear. Yami was sitting on the bed watching Yugi sadly.

"Why don't you go help Marik and Bakura put the rest of the food away?" Malik suggested. "Me and Ryou will stay with Yugi. I got him something that might help calm him down a bit."

Yami looked at them and nodded slowly before standing and heading out to the kitchen. He stopped at the doorway and looked at Yugi once more. Yami was at a loss of what he could do too help Yugi. He wasn't talking, and every time Yami tried to talk to him mental Yugi would slam up more mental blocks. Malik waited for Yami to leave before he closed and locked the door.

Ryou shuddered wrapping his arms around himself before he felt his body take on a mind of it's own. He and Malik walked over and lifted Yugi up. Yugi didn't complain as he was pulled to his feet and led over to the window. Ryou looked over at Malik feeling panicked. He was fully aware of what he was doing, and he saw the same look in Malik's eyes seconds before they stepped into a shadow portal and vanished.

TBC 

Okay, yes I know it's a short ass chapter. --' but I havn't slept in two days. I will say this though. The fic is almost done! And yes, this chapter was supposed to be that confusing. You will all find out exactly WHAT happened in the next chapter. I promise For now. Enjoy this little update. - and I'll try not to let work run me down so much and finish this fic


	14. Chapter 14

The shadow realm is sealed, Yami's spirit is free, Bakura and Marik have been sealed in the shadow realm for good. The natural balance of things can return to normal. So then, why after two years are things in the other realm still shifting? What are these shadows that the three hikari's keep seeing? And how will they deal with it without their yami's?

Reviews

Tavi: - Yeah. Yugi didn't have very good parents. Well, his mother was good. But she had a few…mental problems. And I have decided to write a fic about it. Go a little more in depth

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Now being BetaRead by: Tavi  
Chapter fourteen: Shadow of truth

Yugi walked around the small room he was in trailing his hand along the wall. It was obviously an old padded cell of some kind. Yugi could tell that much. The cushions on the wall were old and stained, and some were ripping. Yugi's mind wandered to when he'd been brought to this room.

-----flash back-----

Yugi walked blindly next to his two friends. His mind screaming at him to snap out of it. That something was seriously wrong and he needed too get a hold of himself before something really bad happened. Yugi looked up when a blast of warm air hit him, they were stepping out of the portal into a dimly lit room.

"what…" Yugi said frowning as he slowly looked around. He could feel Ryou shaking beside him and looked over at the silver haired boy. Yugi yelped and backed away when he saw that there was a shadow standing behind Ryou with his arms wrapped around the shaking boy.

"Let him go!" Yugi said but winced when his voice cracked. The shadow looked at him and smirked. Ryou was still unable to move, even though the shadow was visible and no longer 'inside' Ryou. It still seemed to have control over him. Before Yugi could even think of something to do, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Turning his head again he saw a hooded figure coming down the hall towards them.

"Very good work." A low voice said. Yugi couldn't see the person's face. But he could tell he was talking to the shadow that had Ryou. The figure turned his head and looked at Malik.

"Keep a good hold on that one. Bring him to the room we set up, just for him." Yugi turned and watched Malik walk past the figure, a shadow trailing behind him.

"No! Malik!" Yugi yelped moving to go after him. Yugi was backhanded and sent flying to the floor.

"You! Take Ryou to his room. I will deal with Yugi." The figure said and Ryou was led away just like Malik was. Yugi struggled to stand back up. A hand reached down and grabbed a fist full of his hair pulling him up faster.

"I have a special treat for you." The figure said and dragged Yugi down the hall in the opposite direction of Ryou and Malik. Yugi whimpered, he had been expecting things to get worse. But once again people he cared about where getting hurt because of him. Yugi was shoved into his own room. And left there.

----End flash back----

Yugi didn't know how long he had been walking around the empty room. His mind felt like a tangled mess. And no matter how hard he tried he couldn't focus on any one thought. He stopped walking when he heard the door open and saw someone coming in. The door closed again. Yugi turned his head to the side slightly studying this new person. They too were also warring a black hood that covered their face enough so that Yugi couldn't see who it was. But it was fairly easy to tell that this person was a girl.

"Hello Yugi." The sweet voice said and Yugi blinked. It sounded familiar, far to familiar for his liking.

"Y…you're…" The figure giggled and took off her hood. Yugi still couldn't see her face, but he didn't have to. He felt his heart fall to his stomach. "…Anzu…" Yugi had to lean against the wall for support as he started at her. He hadn't heard from her since she'd left for America. No phone calls, no letters.

"Oh! You remember me, I'm flattered." She said stepping further into the light so Yugi could see her better. She hadn't changed all that much, her hair was a bit longer but she still looked the same.

"You're my friend…why wouldn't I remember you?" Yugi asked frowning, ignoring the fact that he had stopped considering her a friend when he'd heard her and Honda talking in the hallway their final year of school.

"I WAS your friend." Anzu clarified narrowing her eyes. "I was, until you took the only person I ever loved away from me." She said making Yugi's eyes widen slightly. "You took Yami from me!" She shouted at him looking angry and hurt. "Why did you do that Yugi? Why did you send him away?"

"…it…it had to happen…"

"No, it didn't! I bet you just wanted to get rid of him because he was becoming more popular then you. You couldn't stand the fact that people liked him more then you, and the only reason anyone was ever your friend was because of him." She moved closer to Yugi. And Yugi felt himself pressing back against the wall. Her words hurt deeper then anything ever could. "Everyone would have been happier if you just died, then Yami could have staid here!"

"Even if he staid here he never would have loved you!" Yugi shouted at her before he could stop himself. He didn't care if people had been his friends just because of Yami. He couldn't help the selfish thought go through his head that Yami was HIS. Yugi looked at her and swallowed. If looks could kill…

"And how would you know anything about that?" Anzu asked her voice eerily calm now. "You don't even know what love is. You are a selfish little boy who has always thought of only himself. You even killed your own mother just so you could stay alive. You are pathetic Yugi." She said and smirked as all the color drained from Yugi's face.

"Yami is back now. And you are going to get what you deserve." She reached out and grabbed the puzzle from around Yugi's neck pulling it off. Yugi grabbed at it almost desperately. Anzu slapped him pulling the puzzle roughly from his hands she turned and left the room.

"No!" Yugi screamed running over and banging on the door. "Please! Anzu give it back!" He continued banging on the door and screaming until his voice was horse. He fell to his knees. /Yami…/ He tired calling his darker half. But without the puzzle he could no longer feel him.

-----

Down the hall Malik was led into a room that was pitch black. The Millennium Rod had already been taken from him before entering this room.

"Welcome home." The shadow hissed in Malik's ear before torches around the room seemed to light themselves. Malik blinked and looked around the room. It was empty, except for a single table in the center of the room. And it was to this table that Malik was led. He struggled for control of his own body growling.

"You're mind is a lot stronger then your friends." The shadow said making Malik lay down on his stomach. The shadow smiled and lifted up Malik's shirt feeling the blond boy tense under him. "These scars hold a lot of pain." The shadow said tracing a finger over them. Malik shuddered closing his eyes tightly. The shadow chuckled. "there is nothing to fear." The Shadow said turning to leave the room but paused at the door. "yet." He added before leaving. Malik's body still in his control. The shadow hit a button outside of the room and mettle straps wrapped around Malik's wrists, ankles and abdomen before he was given control again.

Malik's eyes widened and he struggled against his restraints. He hated being tied down. He hated not having control!

/MARIK!!/ Malik screamed. It was true the millennium item made it easier for him to contact Marik through their link. But Marik had been born from Malik, and wasn't fully dependent on a millennium item.

----------

Ryou whimpered as he sat in the corner of the room watching the shadow. He had had control of his body since entering this room. But it didn't mean anything. The Shadow was still in the room watching Ryou shake like a leaf, and enjoying every second of it.

"…what….what do you want…" Ryou finally asked making the shadow stop his pacing. He smirked at Ryou and walked over kneeling down in front of him.

"That is for me to know little one, and for you to find out." He said looking closely at Ryou. "You are scared of me." He said and Ryou nodded slowly. "You look like you have more questions you want to ask." Again, Ryou nodded. The shadow smirked. "But you're too afraid to ask."

"…not really…" Ryou lied wincing when the shadow laughed.

"This little bravery act of yours is cute." The shadow sat back crossing his arms. "But I am curious what questions you have."

"…are my friends okay?" Ryou asked not looking at the shadow. He didn't like how close the thing was, but as long as it didn't get any closer he'd be alright. And maybe if he was lucky, he could find out exactly who was behind all this.

"Don't know" The shadow shrugged. "And I don't really care. They're not my responsibility. Next question."

"…Why are you here…" Ryou glanced at him.

"Because I have to watch you. Next question."

"That's not what-"

"I know what you meant. Next question." The shadow said narrowing his eyes. Ryou bit his lip and looked down fidgeting.

"Can I have the ring back…?"

"No. I need it."

"I want-"

"You're not getting it back. You're not calling your yami. It's not time for him to make an appearance." Ryou pulled his knees up to his chest resting his chin on them as he thought. There were more questions he could ask. But there was one that came to the front of his mind that had him puzzled.

"…before you brought us here…I…I saw malik…in the street…" The shadow blinked obviously taken by surprise by this then laughed.

"And he was hit by a car?" Ryou nodded. "That, sorry to say. Was not MY handy work. Compared to the one who did that, I'm still a new born."

"…the one who did…what?" Ryou asked looking at the shadow now.

"The other shadow that was following your friend. You could say he's our 'leader' because he is one of the oldest shadows."

"…so what did he do?"

"Sort of an illusion. But not quite. Illusions can't hurt people, but his can. His are almost as real as you and I are. When he's around, you can never tell what's real, and what's not." The shadow smirked. "It's quite a neat little trick. But a hard one for us shadows to learn."

"…oh…" Ryou said even though he still didn't understand. But another question came to mind. "do…do you have names? Or do you just call each other shadows…?" Ryou asked curious. The shadow's smirk widened at this.

"Yes, we have names." Ryou tilted his head to the side wondering if the shadow was going to tell him his name. The shadow chuckled and leaned forward. Ryou tensed feeling the cold ness of the Shadow as it leaned close to whisper in his ear. "Akifa." (HELP! I know that's not right! TT I've been trying to find Bakura's name from Egypt. I know it's something like that! A lot of people use it. Akeifa…akifa…something like that TT) The shadow whispered and Ryou jerked back so hard his head hit the wall behind him.

"But that's!" Ryou rubbed the back of his head where he had hit it still staring at the shadow with wide eyes. "that's…." The shadow laughed and stood up.

"It appears you know more about your yami then I thought you did." He turned and left the room leaving Ryou sitting there still in shock over what he'd just heard.

-----------

Marik was fighting with Bakura over a box of fruit loops when he heard Malik through the link. He let go of the box so suddenly sending Bakura falling back onto the floor and the fruit loops spilling out of the box.

"DAMN YOU MARIK!" Bakura snapped glaring up at the other Yami but stopped when he saw the look on Marik's face.

Yami turned from where he had been putting the frozen foods away wondering what had stopped the two from fighting so suddenly. Before he could ask what was wrong he felt something brush across his link with Yugi.

//Yugi?// He asked wondering if that had been his hikari. His eyes widened when he didn't feel anything. He had put up his own blocks not wanting to feel how tightly Yugi had been shutting his mind. That he hadn't noticed the link vanish all together.

"What the hell is going on?" Bakura grumbled getting to his feet then froze looking at Marik and then at Yami as well. Bakura had felt something through his link as well. But it was weak. As if Ryou had taken the ring off, and Bakura knew he would never do that. Not now that he had it back.

"Something…" Bakura started.

"Isn't right." Yami said and Marik nodded. Yami left the kitchen going to Yugi's room the other two following. When they found the door locked they knew something definitely wasn't right. Not even bothering to knock and see if any of them would answer Marik pulled Yami away from the door letting Bakura kick it in.

"Malik will make you pay for that." Yami said but the other yami ignored him and hurried into the empty room. The window was wide open and there was no trace of anything in the room.

"DAMNIT!" Yami shouted and punched the wall.

"Yami, calm down." Marik said glaring at the pharaoh. "I can still find Malik through the link." He said.

"Malik still has his item?" Bakura asked glancing at Marik who shook his head.

"no, If he did I'd be able to go to him right now. Unlike you two useless lumps, I don't need the item to talk to Malik. I was born from him, remember?" Marik said smirking at the looks on their faces. "What? Didn't I ever tell you?"

"No, I don't think you ever did." Bakura growled. Marik sighed shrugging.

"Well, you know now." He said and then focused all his attention on the link. That was a mistake when he was over powered by Malik's fear of being tied down, and his hikari screaming through the link. /MARIK!/

//Take it easy hikari. I can hear you just fine.//

/YOU TRY BEING TIED DOWN AND SEE IF YOU CAN 'TAKE IT EASY'!/ Malik shouted back at him making Marik wince.

//Well, if you don't stop shouting then I won't be able to find you so shut your mouth…or your mind…whatever! Just be quiet for five seconds okay?// Marik felt Malik relax and then concentrated on tracing Malik. He could sense his presence but it was far away.

/Fine…but hurry up okay….I'm cold. And I don't know where Yugi and Ryou are./

"…Malik is…on the other side of town. Around that section they've been rebuilding for years." He said looking at the other two.

"Let's go." Yami said and left the room.

"Any idea who has them?" Bakura asked looking at Marik.

"Bakura, I'm not even sure if they're all together. I just know where Malik is. And he doesn't know where they are. So right now we can only hope they're all in the same place." Bakura frowned and followed Marik out of the room.

TBC 

Okay…another chapter. A bit longer then the last. And I know I said I would explain the last chapter in this chapter…but it looks like the characters wanted to move on with the story. So I'm just summing it all up to it was just one big illusion -

Now! I have a question No one was able to guess it before. Do you know who the 'main' shadow is? He is partly Yugi's. But he was created WAY before Yugi was born - any ideas? Leave a review! Let me know!


	15. Chapter 15

The not to distant future  
By Yami Kitsune  
Now being BetaRead by: Tavi  
Chapter fifteen: Overshadowed

Marik had managed, with the help of Bakura, too hot wire a car. Since Marik was the only one with even the slightest bit of knowledge on how to drive he had been elected to get them across town to where they at least knew Malik was.

"Can't you go any faster?" Bakura growled from the back seat but yelped falling over when Marik took a unnecessary sharp turn.

"Quit being a back seat driver!" Marik snapped doing his best to stay on the road, and not hit any of the other cars. "I can't go any faster without killing us. And the last thing we need is for the damn police to try and stop us." He said, not that he was really WORRIED about the police. But they were just to much trouble then they were worth.

Yami sat quietly in the passenger seat, more worried about their Hikari's then Marik's bad driving. At the moment he was concentrating on trying to contact Yugi through their broken link. He knew it wasn't going to be possible if Yugi wasn't warring the puzzle. But it didn't stop the former pharaoh from trying.

--

Honda sat watching the three monitors. His eyes currently on the one that showed Yugi. After Anzu's little visit to his room the boy had not moved from his corner. Curled up tightly as if trying too protect himself. Honda had given the millennium items to the shadows, because he himself had no use for them. He could tap into the shadow realms magic just fine and didn't need some fancy gold item.

Honda glanced up when the door burst open and Anzu stormed in looking upset. "When is he going to GET here!?" She asked sounding frustrated.

"Perhaps he cares less for little Yugi then we originally thought." Honda suggested and just smirked at the glare she gave him. "Calm down. He'll be here." Honda said turning his attention back to the monitors.

"Honda, are you sure we should trust the shadows to take care of things? What if they mess things up?" Anzu asked also turning her attention to the thee boys the monitors showed.

"At this point in the game, I couldn't care less what the shadows do. They want their own bodies, and while they are doing that it moves us further along to our goal."

"I don't trust them." Anzu said crossing her arms. Honda just waved his hand.

"No one is asking you to trust them. Now why don't you go find something to do and make yourself useful." Anzu glared at him again before turning and storming out of the room slamming the door behind her. Honda sighed shaking his head. He had regretted it from day one teaming up with her. The only thing she wanted was Yami.

"She'll never have him." Honda told himself. For that was the final part of his plan. He knew how much Yami cared for Yugi, and he also knew that the pharaoh would never abandon him for Anzu. The end result would be that Yami would die along side his precious hikari. Honda could only hope that Yami took Anzu's life in the process.

Honda stood up and went over to his basin looking into the water at the three yamis. He smiled and flipped an hourglass upside down watching the sand start to fall. "The sands of time are falling Yami. And there's nothing you can do to stop it."

--

Yugi staid curled up in his corner. All his shields were dropped as he tried to find the link he had with Yami. /Yami…/ He cried mentally. He didn't care if he didn't have the puzzle. He and Yami were always connected, and it should only be a matter of finding the link and forcing it back open.

Yugi looked up when the door opened again and frowned when the shadow stepped in. His eyes widened when he saw that the millennium puzzle was hanging around the shadows neck.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" Yugi yelled. The shadow was more then a little surprised when Yugi jumped to his feet and charged trying to grab the puzzle. Moving out of the way easily the shadow let Yugi fall back to the floor.

"my that was….pathetic." The shadow said smiling when he saw Yugi tense. "You really can't do anything with out Yami around can you?"

"Shut up!" Yugi whimpered. "…I've been just fine without Yami!" Yugi said looking back at the shadow.

"Oh, so you don't mind then if I lock him back in the puzzle?" The shadow asked. Yugi's eyes widened when he saw the puzzle starting to glow brightly. Before Yugi could say anything he heard a loud scream inside his mind then all was silent.

--

Marik had just made another sharp turn down into an ally speeding up. Despite him being 'careful' the cops had still taken notice and were now trying to catch them. Marik didn't care, the only thing he wanted to do was get to wherever they where holding Malik, hope they had the other two boys there, and kill the shadows.

Yami suddenly screamed beside him. Looking over Marik's eyes widened when he saw Yami vanish out of the passenger seat. "HOLY RA!" Bakura yelped from the back seat. "What the HELL just happened!?"

"You're asking me like I know!" Marik snapped turning out of the ally. He would have stopped . But he could still hear the cop cars, and they didn't have time to figure out what just happened. Bakura suddenly screamed from the back seat and he too vanished.

"RA damnit!" Marik snapped. "I'll fucking kill those shadows!" He screamed. It was the only explanation he could think of for the sudden disappearance of his two companions. The next thing Marik knew there was a white hot pain running through his whole body. He screamed vanishing just as the car crashed right into a flower shop.

--

The shadow chuckled. He hadn't really thought the yamis were close enough too call them back to their items. So he was pleasantly surprised when his little summons had worked. He turned his attention back to Yugi who was staring at the puzzle with wide eyes.

"Your little pharaoh friend has come to visit." The shadow said holding up the puzzle.

"…yami…" Yugi said softly.

"Now the real fun can begin." Yugi looked up and yelped when he saw the shadow was standing right in front of him now. Yugi backed away quickly as the shadow held up his hand reaching out towards Yugi.

"Leave me alone!" Yugi yelled. The shadow laughed at how badly Yugi's voice was shaking. The boy was terrified, and it tasted delicious. Cornering Yugi the shadow put his hand on the smaller boy's head. Yugi struggled whimpering in fear. Spots burst in front of Yugi's vision as he felt as if someone was taking a knife and splitting his head in half. He let out a high pitched scream that was muffled by the walls in the room. The shadows laughter mixed with Yugi's screams.

Yugi couldn't take the pain so he did the only thing he could, he retreated to his soul room. Normally he would not have been able to do this if he were not warring the puzzle, but it was close enough to him that he was able to make it there. When Yugi arrived in his soul room however. It looked as if a powerful earthquake had hit it. The walls were cracked, the paper falling down. There were no longer any toys in his room, and Yugi guessed that they must have fallen into the hole in the floor.

"Yugi?" Yugi jumped at the sound of his name. Spinning around quickly he saw Yami standing by his door. But Yami was unable to enter the room, because instead of a normal door, there were bars blocking Yami from getting in, and Yugi from getting out. /The shadow wanted me to come here…/ Yugi thought to himself as he continued to star at Yami.

"Yugi. What is happening?" Yami asked. Yugi didn't know what to say, he didn't know what was going on himself. .

"Yami…I…the shadow…" Yugi started but was interrupted as the walls of his soul room seemed to be falling apart more. Yugi whimpered backing away as the rest of his soul room fell apart before his very eyes. But it was what was behind the walls of his room that made him back away further.

"Aibou?" Yami asked reaching through the bars of Yugi's soul room taking Yugi's hand. He could feel Yugi shaking as he looked around the new room. "What is this place?" Yami asked.

"…it…"

"Yugi?" A female's voice called and Yugi looked up eyes wide. "Yugi?" The voice said again as a woman appeared. Yami watched Yugi as he pressed back further into the bars and closer to Yami. He had gone deathly pale and was shaking even worse at the sudden appearance of this strange woman.

"Yugi." She smiled sweetly. "There you are. I've been so worried about you." She said stepping forward her arms open and welcoming. "Don't be afraid. It's alright."

"Yugi who…" Yami didn't get to finish what he was going to ask as Yugi slowly pulled away from him walking towards the woman.

"…mom…?" Yugi asked softly disbelief in his voice. The woman nodded.

"Yes Yugi." she stepped forward wrapping her arms around him holding him close. Yugi felt tears falling down his face as he slowly leaned into the hug, but did not return it. "It's okay Yugi, mommy's here."

"I…I'm so sorry mom…I never…I didn't mean…"

"Shhh, it's okay Yugi. It's okay." She said soothingly running her fingers through his hair. "Everything will be alright now. I promise." She said. Yami watched with narrowed eyes looking around trying to find some way to get into that room. He had a bad feeling about this woman.

"Mom…can you…can you forgive me?" Yugi asked.

"Oh Yugi. You're my son." She said smiling when Yugi relaxed a little. The smile faded quickly as she looked down at Yugi. A look of pain crossed her face tightening her arms around him. "You are my son…and proper punishment should be given." Yami watched with wide eyes as a knife suddenly appeared in the woman's hand.

"YUGI!" Yami screamed and started pulling at the bars to his Hikari's soul room. Yugi blinked looking back at Yami.

"Ya-" Yugi's eyes widened when he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He slowly turned back to his mother who was holding a bloodied knife above her head ready to strike again.

"You must die." She hissed. Yugi stumbled back holding his shoulder shaking from head to toe.

"Mom…"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" She screamed and dove at Yugi again. Yugi screamed as he turned and ran. Yami watched as the soul room shifted again seeming to stretch so he was further away from Yugi. Looking down he could see Yugi at the bottom of the stairs running to get to the top. "Yugi!" Yami called holding his hand out to him.

Yugi looked up to the top of the stairs seeing Yami. He knew if he could just reach him he'd be safe. He felt another sharp pain bite into his leg and he stumbled falling on the stairs. He looked back seeing his mother draw the knife out of his leg.

"You've been a bad boy Yugi." She hissed.

"P..please.I-I didn't…I didn't mean too…" yugi whimpered standing and moving up the stairs as quickly as he could, his leg bleeding badly and it hurt to much to step on it. But he had to get to Yami. He fell again screaming when the knife cut deep into his other leg. He looked up tears streaming down his face, he was only half way up the stairs.

"The pain will stop, when you die." His mother said advancing on him again. Yugi forced himself to stand doing his best to ignore the pain in both his legs. He stumbled up the stairs.

"Almost…there…" he said reaching out to Yami who was trying to reach him as well.

"Yugi! Behind you!" Yami screamed. Yugi stopped and turned looking at his mother right before she stabbed a finale time sending the knife deep into the side of his stomach. Yugi screamed falling back holding his side. He looked up at his mother who had tears streaming down her own face.

"I have to make the pain stop." She said bringing the knife down one more time Yugi screamed kicking out, he immediately regretted it when he felt his feet connect with his mother stomach. She screamed falling backwards down the stairs. Yugi lay on the stairs, feet away from Yami. Everything in his soul room had gone deathly quiet. And he couldn't bring himself to look down to the bottom of the stairs.

"…I did it again…" he said softly.

"Aibou?" Yami asked kneeling on the floor watching Yugi closely. Wanting nothing more then to go to his side.

"my mom…I did it again…I killed her again." Yami stared at Yugi unsure of what too say to him. He felt the bars dissolve away and he slowly moved to Yugi's side. Lifting him gently he held the bleeding boy on his lap. Yugi berried his face in Yami's chest and cried. Yami held him close feeling his own pain at not being able to help his hikari.

"That is why, you closed your mind to me?" Yami asked. He closed his eyes as he felt Yugi nod his head against his chest. It made sense now. Someone, with a mind and heart like Yugi's was never meant to deal with that kind of pain.

"Yugi." Yami said looking down at him. "Yugi look at me." Slowly Yugi lifted his head, his eyes blank but tears till falling from them. "It wasn't your fault." Yami said putting his hand under Yugi's chin keeping him from looking away. "What happened was not your fault. It was an accident A terrible accident."

"I…I never meant to…"

"I know hikari." Yami said leaning down and kissing Yugi's cheek. "I know. But remember this, I do not think any differently of you for what you have done. You are my hikari, and always will be. My precious little hikari." Yami said smiling softly at him leaning down once again he lightly pressed his lips to Yugi's. Yugi's eyes went wide for a second before slowly sliding closed. As they did his soul room faded back to the way it used to be.

--

The shadow watched Yugi carefully smiling. He had gotten a wonderful meal from that little adventure, and with the power of the millennium puzzle he now had a true body of his own. Slowly taking the puzzle off he set it down next to Yugi placing the small boy's hand on it.

"I'm sorry I had to put you through that." He said softly. "Yami will protect you now." He said and stood back up looking at the door. "Now to go see how Akeifa is doing." He said to himself leaving the room. Stopping only to look up at the camera and smirk knowing full well that Honda was watching. He wished he could see the look on that idiot's face right about now when he realized what he had let happen. The shadow now had a true body of his own. Unlike before where he had just been a solid darkness.

Stepping out of the room he smirked when he saw Akeifa leaning against the opposite wall the millennium ring hanging around his neck. "I see you havn't gone to feed yet." He said noting Akeifa's still solid shadow form.

"No, I wanted to see if it would actually work." He said looking his shadow friend over. "You look good like that, Atemu."

"Come, let's go get you a body before that idiot decides to do something stupid to stop us." Atemu said. Akeifa nodded.

TBC

The name of the shadow has finally been revealed!! - hehe. Now! In case people are a little confused here is what happened. The shadow was actually born from Yami, when he had to fight Bakura for the first time in Egypt, and had to watch his friends and people suffer because of him. That was enough to create the shadow, but before it was fully formed Yami sealed his own soul away in the millennium puzzle. Thus sending his own shadow to the shadow realm. Then when it got free from the shadow realm it basically attached it's self to yugi thus becoming Yugi and Yami's shadow.

Alright! Thank you for reading! Next chapter. What will become of Ryou and Malik


	16. Chapter 16

The not to distant future

By Yami Kitsune

Now being BetaRead by: Tavi

Chapter sixteen: Dreamless Shadow

Ryou was sitting on the floor in his room thinking over what the shadow had told him. Mainly thinking about the shadows name. Surely it was only a coincidence that the shadow had the same name that Bakura had had back in Egypt. But Ryou had a feeling that it was more then just a coincidence.

"…Is the shadow really Bakura?" Ryou asked himself frowning.

"No, I am not Bakura." Ryou looked up quickly eyes wide. He hadn't even heard the door open. Akeifa smirked at him and stepped in closing the door behind him. "I was born from Bakura, and you." Akeifa clarified.

"born from us?" Ryou asked slowly backing up.

"I was created by Bakura when he faced off against the pharaoh. And was trapped in the shadow realm when that idiot got himself sealed in the millennium ring." Akeifa growled advancing on Ryou who let out a small yip when his back connected with the wall. The room seemed suddenly smaller now that he was cornered by the shadow. "And when that idiot came back from the Shadow realm I saw my chance and escaped. I still wasn't a whole shadow. That's where you came in. I fed off of you and became enough of a shadow to brake free." Akeifa explained putting his hands on either side of Ryou's head pinning him completely to the wall. He smirked when he saw the silver haired boy shaking.

"Now." Akeifa's smirk widened. "Let's finish where we left off when your little yami interrupted us." Before Ryou could even make a sound Akeifa leaned down and kissed him. Ryou's eyes widened and he screamed feeling himself being forced back into his soul room. The first thing that registered was someone cursing up a storm.

"RA FUCKING DAMNIT!!" Bakura shouted as he kicked at the bars keeping him out of Ryou's soul room. He stopped when he saw Ryou appear in the middle of the room. "RA DAMNED SHADOW!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING NOW!?" Bakura yelled beyond pissed.

"…Bakura…?" Ryou blinked and started to walk over to him but was stopped when someone grabbed him from behind.

"My, my. What do we have here?" A voice hissed in his ear and Ryou could smell alcohol on the person's breath. His eyes widened and he went deathly pale. "You've grown quite a lot little Ryou." The person said his arm snaking around Ryou's waist and pulling him closer. Ryou let out a small whimper as he started shaking.

"U…uncle…"

"I bet you are a lot better now then you were when you were younger." His uncle whispered against his ear a hand slipping below the waist band of Ryou's pants.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU ASSHOLE!" Bakura yelled pulling at the bars. Either the man hadn't heard Bakura, or he was very good at ignoring him. Bakura watched in horror as Ryou was easily lifted and dropped onto a large bed watching with wide eyes as his uncle climbed on the bed leaning over him.

"…please…stop." Ryou said softly squeaking when he felt a large hand squeeze his member and start rubbing him. Leaning down he pressed his lips roughly to Ryou's. The silver haired boy to frightened to do anything. Pulling out of the kiss his uncle smiled down at him.

"You look so much like your mother." His uncle said. "It's no wonder that my brother left you with me. Afraid that he will be the one doing this to you. Pity, he doesn't know what he's missing. Either that he blames you for your mothers death." Ryou shook his head slowly.

"Daddy cares about me…"

"Then why did he leave you with me?"

"He…he had too go back to work…"

"Naive little Ryou. Is that what he told you? He can't stand to look at you, why else would he leave for months and months and not come back? He never did that when your mother was alive."

"You're wrong!" Ryou yelled. His uncle glared and backhanded him.

"Don't raise your voice to me little brat. Be grateful that I'm allowing you to live with me."

"…I'd rather die then live with you…" Ryou said closing his eyes tightly to stop the tears.

"That could be arranged, but you are far to beautiful to kill. So let's put you to some better use." His uncle ripped off Ryou's pants. "Time for you to start earning your keep.

Bakura watched with wide eyes. Things seemed oddly familiar now. He scanned the room that Ryou was in before finding what he was looking for. Sure enough, there was a package sitting on Ryou's desk, one that his uncle had brought in. Ryou was reliving the memory that lead up to him releasing Bakura from the ring. Things were making a hell of a lot more sense now. Why Ryou took all those beatings from Bakura. Why he blindly agreed to anything Bakura wanted.

Bakura's attention was pulled back to Ryou and his uncle when the silver haired boy let out a scream. Bakura saw red as he watched Ryou's uncle spread the boys legs and lifting them onto his shoulders. Ryou was struggling as best he could screaming loudly. Bakura gripped the bars that were stopping him from getting to Ryou. "Ra…please make this stop." He said softly closing his eyes tightly as Ryou's screams echoed through the room. His screams turned to whimpers before the boy was to tired to make any noise at all.

It seemed like an eternity before his uncle decided he was through and got off the bed pulling his pants back up. Ryou lay limp on the bed staring at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.

"By the way. Your father sent you a package. I left it on your desk." With that his uncle left the room. Ryou turned his head slowly to look at the package.

"Ryou." Bakura said softly hoping to get his hikari's attention. But Ryou's eyes were fixed on the package, and Bakura wasn't sure Ryou had heard him.

"…Ryou, I'm sorry." Bakura said. Ryou did turn to look at him this time. "After what you had gone through, I only put you through more pain."

"…Bakura…" Ryou forced himself to get off the bed and stumble over to the door. He sat on the floor unable to hold himself up and leaned against the bars. "…it was better being your slave…then living with my uncle." Bakura put his arms through the bars and wrapped them around Ryou as best he could. The next thing Ryou knew he was back in the room with Akeifa, but he was still in Bakura's arms.

Akeifa now had a full human form and was smiling down at the two of them. "Strangely enough, that was the best meal I ever had." He smirked and took the ring off from around his neck and put it around Ryou's. He then looked at Bakura who was staring at him eyes wide and mouth open.

"Hello Bakura." Akeifa smiled. "Long time no see." Before Bakura could say anything, or even THINK of something to say the door burst open and Atemu ran in.

"Akeifa! We have trouble. You know who was an idiot and tried something with Malik." Bakura stared at Atemu, at first glance he would have thought it was Yami. But this person was as dark as Malik and Marik.

"Damnit." Akeifa stood up but stopped when he felt Ryou grab his hand.

"What…what's wrong with Malik?" He asked eyes wide.

"I don't know yet. But if that ass is doing what I THINK he's doing…It could kill Malik." Bakura stood up lifting Ryou with him and glaring at Akeifa.

"What in Ra's name is going on?" He growled. Akeifa glared right back at him then turned to look at Atemu.

"Go get Yami and Yugi. We'll meet you at Malik's room." He said.

"You know, under normal circumstances I would be very offended at being given an order from someone like you. But I'll let it side for now." Atemu said.

"Oh, I'm so honored." Akeifa rolled his eyes and looked back at Ryou and Bakura. "Alright, follow me and I'll explain." Akeifa said not wanting to waste time getting to Malik's room. Ryou moved forward to follow but was stopped by Bakura. Akeifa sencing they weren't following him turned sharply.

"Listen you stubborn idiot! I don't give a rats ass if you trust me or not. If you want some quick answers follow me but I am NOT going to stand here and explain everything to you while that asshole is doing Ra knows what to Malik."

"I'll follow you I you answer this. Why are you worried about Malik? After what you just did to Ryou." Bakura asked still glaring death at Akeifa.

"I needed Ryou and you so I could have enough power to make a body of my own. Same with Atemu, he needed Yugi and Yami. Malik however, has already created a shadow. Malik was to be left alone. Because if he is forced to relieve any one of his memories he can easily create a second shadow. But it could very well kill him." Akeifa said. "Now if you're done wasting time MOVE YOUR ASS!" He shouted before turning and leaving the room quickly. Ryou didn't have to be told twice and quickly followed. Bakura hot on their heals.

"So who is this 'asshole' you keep talking about?" Bakura asked catching up to Akeifa.

"Someone I'm afraid you know quite well. His name is Honda. From what I can gather he found out about the shadows and purposely tried to create his own. But the shadow over took him." He glanced over at Ryou.

"It…it's Honda? HE'S the one doing all this!?"

"I'm afraid so. But you have to remember this. The Honda you knew, is gone. He has become his own shadow. So now we can't kill the shadow, without killing Honda. We can't separate them at all. It's all or nothing."

"That's fine by me. Honda was an idiot anyway. Hey! Don't hit me Ryou. It's the truth!" Bakura snapped.

Akeifa stopped in front of the room that was Malik's. They heard footsteps quickly approaching. Ryou turned and saw Yami, Yugi and Atemu hurrying down the hall.

"Yugi!" Ryou said glad that his friend was safe. Yugi smiled slightly at Ryou hugging him. Yami watched then glanced at Akeifa and Bakura shaking his head.

"Things just keep getting weirder and weirder."

"It depends on your definition of weird." A new voice said. They all turned to see Honda standing there, Anzu standing next to him smiling she waved to Yami.

"Hi Yami!" She said happily. Yami glared back at her wrapping his arms around Yugi and pulling him closer. Anzu's smile vanished and her hand dropped. She glared at Yugi making it very clear that she wanted nothing more then to see him dead.

"What have you done with Malik?" Akeifa asked looking at Honda.

"Watching you two gave me a very cleaver idea." Honda said stepping over and hitting a switch next to the door. A window opened so they could look in and see Malik strapped to the table. Malik's eyes were wide open but glazed over as he screamed into a gag struggling against an unseen force that was obviously causing him a lot of pain.

"MALIK!" Yugi and Ryou said at the same time, they both went to move forward. But Yugi was stopped by Yami's arms still around him, and Ryou was stopped by Bakura. Atemu and Akeifa stepped forward glaring at Honda.

"You are making a big mistake doing this. I suggest you stop now before you kill him!" Atemu said.

"You think I care? He is the perfect person to create a army of shadows! All of them are going to be as strong as Marik. If not stronger!" Honda said his eyes glowing. "Think of the possibilities! With an army of you shadows, I can finally have the resignation I deserve!"

"And I can finally have Yami!" Anzu said. Yami looked slightly sick at that and chose to ignore it.

"You know nothing about shadows Honda." Atemu said. "You will kill that boy, and you will not have the shadow army you are talking about. Each shadow that boy creates will be weaker then the first. That is if he even survives creating a second!"

"Then I'll just use THOSE two to create more!" Honda yelled pointing at Ryou and Yugi.

"…Atemu, why didn't you tell me this guy was such an idiot?" Akeifa asked raising an eyebrow. "And for that matter. How come you havn't killed him yet?"

"Because-"

"Because I OWN him!" Honda said smirking. "Atemu? Is that what you're calling yourself now?" Honda snorted. "Fine, whatever you want. Now come over here." Honda said thinking he would now have the upper hand. Atemu just looked highly amused.

"Go fuck yourself." He said calmly. Anzu's mouth dropped as she stared at Atemu and then looked to Honda.

"I thought you said you had him under your control?"

"I do." Honda said but his smirk had faded. "I said come HERE!"

"And I said go fuck yourself. And in case you can't figure out what that MEANS. It means NO. I do not take orders from you any more." Atemu said grinning at the look of shock and furry that crossed Honda's face.

"You're not ALLOWED to disobey me!"

"Are you really that stupid?" Atemu sighed shaking his head. "As long as I was a lesser shadow, meaning, as long as I didn't have a body of my own, THEN I was under your control. But you gave me permeation to do what I wanted with the millennium items. So I did, I fed until I had enough power to create my own body. Therefore making me…well, I wouldn't call you my equal. I am surely smarter then you are. But you should get the picture."

Honda screamed and held up his hand which started glowing brightly. "Fine then! I'll just send you back to the shadow realm where I found you!"

Atemu and Akeifa held up their hands as well, followed by Bakura and Yami. "I don't think so." Atemu said as their hands started glowing as well.

"This world has enough idiots. I doubt they'll miss one." Honda growled and the shadow magic burst out from his hand colliding with the shadow magic coming from Akeifa, Atemu, Yami and Bakura. It was practically over before it even began. A scream was heard from Anzu before that too vanished to the shadows. And then, all was quiet.

Ryou and Yugi looked at each other then at the spots where Anzu and Honda had been standing a moment before. Deciding it was safe now the two of them moved passed the other four and went into the room where Malik was still tied down. His shirt had been ripped off and the scars on his back looked like they were slowly being carved into his back for a second time. There was no blood but they looked like they had been rubbed raw.

Atemu and Akeifa came into the room quickly. Atemu moved around to the other side of the table and stopped. "oh Ra…" He said softly. "Akeifa! Give me the Rod." He said staring at something that was on the floor. Akeifa frowned and handed Atemu the millennium Rod also moving around the table to see what Atemu was staring at then growled. "If he wasn't in the shadow realm already I'd slice him in two…"

"What is going on?" Yami asked as he and Bakura came in standing with their hikari's. Malik's body suddenly went limp on the table and there was a bright light coming from the floor. Akeifa knelt down while Atemu untied Malik and checking to see if he was alright. Ryou watched before looking over the table to see what Akeifa was doing. He saw something laying on the floor, something that had hair like Malik's. Before he could ask what it was there was another flash from the millennium Rod and Marik was suddenly standing in the room with them. He didn't seem to notice anyone but Atemu who was the one slowly turning Malik over onto his back.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Marik shouted swinging a fist at Atemu taking Malik from him. Marik looked down at him and removed the gag. "Malik? Malik open your eyes." Malik didn't move, and it looked like he wasn't breathing at all. "Ra please!" Marik begged holding his hikari close.

"He'll be alright." Akeifa said standing up holding what looked like a small dark skinned boy in his arms. Marik blinked looking at him then looked at the boy he was holding then seemed to relax a bit. "It's weak. He didn't use a lot of energy to create it." Marik said then looked back at Akeifa then glanced at Atemu. Looking behind him he saw Yami and Bakura standing there. Ryou and Yugi moved closer to see for themselves how Malik was.

"Why do I get the feeling I missed something?" Marik asked.

"You're not the only one." Bakura said smirking. Malik shifted on the table making Marik turn his attention back to him. Violet eyes slowly opened and he looked up at Marik.

"…hi…" Malik said softly but was smiling. Marik smiled back.

"Hi."

"Is it over?"

"It's over." Atemu said. "We sent the one's responsible to the shadow realm. They won't be bothering you again." Malik nodded and then looked over at Akeifa, then the boy he was holding. Sitting up more Malik winced at the sore mussels in his back. But never took his eyes off the boy. Everyone seemed to be watching the body that Akeifa was holding. Akeifa shifted him a little so everyone could see him better. Ryou giggled softly when he saw that the boy had both hand wrapped tightly around the Millennium Rod holding it close.

"Is…is he?" Malik asked.

"He's alright. You're a lot stronger then I gave you credit for. You survived creating another shadow. And the shadow instead of being full grown and weak, is a child. Very clever." Akeifa said. The boy in his arms stirred slightly his eyes opening and winced at the bright light in the room. Akeifa slowly set the boy down on his feet making sure he didn't fall over. Malik frowned when he saw the boy didn't have any clothes on. He looked around and found Ryou holding out his sweater for him.

"He needs it more." Ryou smiled. Malik smiled back and took it, sliding off the table he knelt in front of the boy who blinked at him.

"Hi." The boy said smiling. Malik smiled back at him and slipped the sweater over his head.

"Hi." He replied. "you ready to go home?" Malik asked making the boy blink. "With me." Malik clarified. The boy looked back at Atemu and Akeifa who just shrugged.

"It's up to you kid." Akeifa said.

"Don't call me kid." The boy pouted.

"Well, you havn't told us your name yet. So what are we supposed to call you?" Atemu pointed out.

"Call me Namu." He said then looked back at Malik and smiled. "Alright, let's go home." Malik stood back up smiling down at the boy who was literally a younger version of himself.

"Like I said, things just keep getting weirder and weirder." Yami said again. Yugi looked back at him frowning lightly and Yami saw a worried look in his eyes. "What's wrong Aibou?"

"now that…now that things are over, does that mean you have to leave again?" He asked. This question brought silence to the room. Ryou looked at Bakura silently asking the same question. Malik avoided looking at Marik, but was also wondering the same thing. Yami smiled and stepped closer to Yugi putting a finger under his chin lifting his head slightly leaning down he pressed his lips to Yugi's.

Bakura shook his head. "I hope he knows that doesn't exactly answer the question."

"Then why don't you answer it?" Ryou asked looking at Bakura who smiled at him and shook his head.

"No hikari. We're not leaving. The Gods are giving us a second chance. But!" he held up his hand when Ryou opened his mouth to ask another question. "We won't answer any questions here." He looked over at Atemu and Akeifa. "You." He pointed to Akeifa. "You can come back with us." He looked at Atemu.

"I don't care what you do."

"What I do is up to Yami and Yugi. If they do not wish I stay with them, I'll stay somewhere else." Atemu said looking over at Yami and Yugi. Yami had broken the kiss leaving Yugi flushed and slightly dazed.

"I guess…that means you're staying?" Yugi asked smiling a little. Yami chuckled and nodded. Looking over at Atemu. "You are welcome to come back with us as well. And with that the group of nine left the building. Namu riding on Marik's shoulders the whole way out.

TBC

What's this? Another to be continued? - Yep! One more chapter people! And then that'll be the end of this fic. sniff such a lovely fic, I'm kinda sad that it's ending. But all good things must come to an end at some point. Anyway! Let me know what you think! Ja ne for now!


	17. Chapter 17

The not to distant future

By Yami Kitsune

Chapter Seventeen: Light beyond the shadows

Atemu slowly sat down on the couch next to Akeifa, his eyes shifting around quickly. Yugi sat down in a chair across from them, Yami standing behind him. Bakura was sitting in a chair holding Ryou on his lap as the silver haired hikari stared at Akeifa.

"You look nervous." Yugi said softly watching Atemu who glanced at him.

"I just got a body of my own, and I had to torture the reincarnation of the pharaoh, and the spirit of the pharaoh in order to get it."

"And steal my original name in the process." Yami said but was smiling a bit. He knew he should be furious at the former shadows for what they had put the hikari's through. But he was surprised to find he wasn't as upset as he should be.

"…Why didn't you just tell us?" Ryou asked looking at Akeifa.

"Would you have willingly relived those memories to help something that was created from those memories to begin with?" Akeifa asked raising an eyebrow at Ryou. "Hikari's you may be, but no one is that nice."

"And no one would ever choose to relive the worse moments of their life." Atemu added. Ryou looked down frowning silently thinking to himself.

"What's done is done." Bakura said holding Ryou closer.

"Now the only question is what to do with you two." Yami eyed the two sitting on the couch.

"What about…" Akeifa started but trailed off letting his eyes drift over where Malik was sitting in the large chair, Namu sitting on his lap looking around taking in everything he could. Marik was leaning on the back of the chair watching the little version of Malik. Atemu smiled watching them as well.

"I don't think Namu has anything to fear from the shadow realm." He said softly.

"And neither do you." Yami said making Atemu look back at him quickly eyes slightly wide.

"What?" Atemu blinked not sure he'd heard him right.

"You don't have anything to fear from the shadow realm either. I can't say I'm happy with what you did to Yugi and Ryou."

"But." Yugi joined in. "It…it was something I did have to face…" He looked down at his hands that were fisted in his lap. "I would have had to…sooner or later."

"She doesn't blame you." Atemu said making Yugi look up at him with slightly wide eyes. Atemu smiled at him. "I can't say I've talked with her personally. But I also know that no mother can ever truly hate their child. From what I saw she was always in a lot of pain. And in the end, she didn't know how to deal with it any more." Yugi smiled a little at Atemu. He jumped when he felt Yami wrap his arms around him.

"He's right." Yami said.

"I know…" Yugi whispered back and looked at Atemu again. "Um…I doubt you have a place to stay…" He started.

"You're welcome to stay with us at the game shop."

"I'd be honored." Atemu grinned. Akeifa rolled his eyes and looked at Bakura chuckling when he saw the yami doing the same thing.

"So, what's the verdict? Am I bound for the shadow realm?" Akeifa asked putting his arms behind his head leaning back against the couch. "Or is all forgiven?" Bakura snorted.

"Not likely." He growled. "After what you put Ryou through you expect us to be all disgustingly mushy like those three?" He asked waving a hand absently at Yami, Yugi and Atemu.

"Oh no, I would never dream of asking the great thief Bakura to be…how did you put it? Disgustingly mushy. At leas not towards me." Akeifa said but was grinning at the look of irritation on Bakura's face.

"And another thing!" Bakura continued. "Who gave you permission to use MY name!?"

"What? Do you think the name Akeifa fits me better then it does you at the moment?" Akeifa asked grinning more as he spread his arms slightly as if silently saying 'just LOOK at me'. "I'm everything you used to be. You are a mere shadow of your little hikari now. Small, but oh so adorable and cute." Akeifa chuckled at the blush that spread across Ryou's cheeks, and the angry red color that Bakura's face turned.

"I AM NOT CUTE!" Bakura yelled. Ryou stood up and moved to the side just in time as Bakura lunged out of the chair. Akeifa stood and easily stopped Bakura. What Akeifa had said was true. Now that the two of them were…er…closer to each other. It was easy to tell the differences. Besides Akeifa's darker skin, and scar across his eye. He had more muscle then Bakura did. It was like comparing Bakura to Ryou. Bakura was slightly taller then Ryou, and Akeifa slightly taller then Bakura. Bakura had more muscle then Ryou, and Akeifa more then Bakura.

"…Bakura please stop." Ryou said watching as the furious yami attempted to land one punch on Akeifa. But Akeifa looked like he was enjoying this to much.

Marik was laughing as he watched Akeifa dance around easily blocking or avoiding Bakura's punches and kicks. Finally Ryou managed to step between the two. Bakura growled his fist pulled back ready to punch, but he wouldn't go through Ryou to hit his target.

"yami…please?" Ryou asked looking at Bakura. Bakura glared looking at Akeifa.

"You can stay." He growled. "But one wrong move and your ass is on it's way to the shadow realm." Bakura said sitting down with a huff. Ryou smiled at Bakura before looking at Akeifa looking more nervous. Akeifa smiled at him and petted his head.

"Do you hate me for making you relieve that memory?" He asked. To his surprise Ryou shook his head.

"No. Because that was also the memory that lead to me finding Bakura."

"Hikari's are strange creatures." Akeifa said taking his seat again.

"You say that now." Yami said grinning. "Try living with one of them for a few years. You'll find out how true that statement is."

"Hey!" Yugi said reaching up and hitting Yami in the head. "We're not more strange then you are!" Yami smiled and kissed the top of Yugi's head. They all sat in silence for a while before Malik finally spoke.

"You are really staying this time aren't you?" Malik asked looking up at Marik and then turned his attention to Bakura and finally Yami. Yami stood up strait smiling.

"Yes, we are really staying this time. But, we have one more thing we have too do." Yami said and looked at Bakura and Marik who nodded.

"What?" Malik asked looking between the three yamis again. Ryou and Yugi also looked confused wondering what else they had to do.

"The gods have given me a forbidden spell." Yami said looking at Yugi. "We will no longer be bound to the millennium items. We will be as human as you are hikari." He said. Yugi's eyes widened and he stared at Yami in disbelief.

/Please…don't let this be a dream…/ Yugi thought to himself forgetting that the link was open again now that he had the puzzle back on. /Please…don't take away my happiness again./ Listening to Yugi's thoughts almost broke Yami's heart. He moved around so he was standing in front of Yugi. Leaning down he cupped his cheek.

"I will do everything in my power to make you happy my hikari." he whispered so only Yugi could hear him before pulling Yugi into a deep kiss. Yugi melted against his yami closing his eyes and kissing him back.

Ryou flushed looking away from the kissing pair. He looked over at Malik who was still holding Namu on his lap. "Is he going to live with you?" Ryou asked. Malik smiled and nodded.

"I'm going to give him the life I couldn't have."

"WE'RE going to give him the life you couldn't have." Marik said grinning. "And this goes to show you! You don't need to be a chick to have a kid! And we skipped all the nasty hard stuff with diapers and bottle feedings!" Ryou giggled at the look that Malik gave his yami. Ryou looked back at his own yami blinking when he saw him glaring at Akeifa. Akeifa was watching Marik, Malik and Namu a small smile on his face.

/Do you really hate him Bakura?/ Ryou asked making Bakura jump slightly in his seat and look over at him before sighing.

/No, I don't hate him…But I don't like him either. He hurt you Ryou, but in the end he also helped us./

/You used to hurt me too./ Ryou pointed out.

/That is why I don't hate him./ Bakura said standing up winking at Ryou before turning too look at Yami. "Oi! Are you going to continue sucking your hikari's face off, or are we actually going to use that damn spell of yours!" Bakura snapped.

Yami finally pulled out of the kiss watching Yugi fall back against the chair his eyes still half closed, face flushed and gasping for air. "…wow…" Was the only thing Yugi was able to say as he stared off into space. Yami chuckled before turning to Bakura.

"Alright. Let's get this over with." He said. Marik bounced around the chair so he was standing in the center of the room with the other two yamis. Both of them looked eager at the thought of having their own body. Marik because he'd never had one of his own. Bakura and Yami eager because it was hard to remember what it felt like to be alive after five thousand years. Ryou sat back down watching them closely and looked over at Yugi who was coming out of his daze enough to watch as well. Malik ran his fingers through Namu's hair also watching the three.

Yami held up his hands and began speaking in his old tongue closing his eyes as his hands began to glow. He continued speaking as the glow spread over his body and then over Marik and Bakura who were watching Yami carefully.

/are you okay Bakura?/ Ryou asked noticing how tense his yami was.

/Yeah, just peachy/ He growled back not taking his eyes off Yami for a second. Akeifa smiled and slowly moved over to Ryou kneeling next to his chair.

"Don't let his bad attitude get to you little one." He said in a whisper. "He's spent over five thousand years hating the spirit of the Pharaoh. And now he is in a way, trusting his life to him."

"But he's lived with him for over a month…"

"Getting along with someone, and trusting them with their life is two completely different things." Akeifa said. Ryou frowned but nodded looking back at his yami as the glow started fading. Marik was the first to move putting a hand on his arm trying to find something that was different.

"Okay…so how do we know it worked?" He asked frowning.

"We could do it the easy way." Bakura said holding up a knife.

"No bleeding on my rug!" Malik snapped making everyone in the room look at him. He blinked back. "What? Blood stains are a pain in the ass to get up. I should know. Ishizu made me clean one once."

"I remember that, you bitched at me for the whole time that I was hiding in the millennium Rod and wouldn't come out to help you." Marik chuckled then looked at Bakura.

Yami rolled his eyes and without warning put his hand on Marik's chest. Marik yelped jerking away in surprise. "Calm down, I was checking to see if you had a heart beat." Marik blinked then grinned.

"Oh, is that your excuse for feeling me up?"

"If he was feeling you up." Bakura said stepping closer to Marik his hand disappearing between Marik's legs for a second. "he would have done that. So quit acting like a girl." He said. Marik growled at him grabbing Bakura's hair and pulling him down for a quick kiss.

"Don't, do that again. When you know very well you can't finish anything you start with me." Marik said before going back over to his stunned hikari. Ryou was also looking at Bakura with slightly wide eyes. Bakura just looked at him and shrugged.

"I spent a few years with him in the shadow realm. Do you know how BORING that place can get?" He asked then noticed how close Akeifa was to Ryou and glared at him. Akeifa, just to irritate Bakura more leaned over and kissed Ryou's cheek before standing up.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret not sending you back to the shadow realm?" Bakura asked and Akeifa just shrugged.

Atemu had been watching everything silently, until Yami caught his eye. He looked at him and smiled. "So, what's it feel like to have your own body?"

"Strange…" Yami said frowning. "I no longer need power from the millennium puzzle to keep me in this realm…and actually…." He looked back at Yugi silent for a few seconds. "Did you hear that?" He asked Yugi who stared at him.

"Did I hear what?"

"Our link, that the puzzle gave us. It's gone." He said going over and removing the puzzle from Yugi's neck. Yugi stared at it sadly as Yami set it aside. "It will be locked away again." Yami said turning Yugi's attention back to him. "Like it was meant to be."

"Actually." Atemu said lifting it off the table and putting it around his own neck. "I am still part of the shadow realm." He said. /And with the puzzle I can do this./ He said in both Yugi and Yami's mind.

"All three of us are connected with the puzzle. Because I was born from the two of you." He said smiling. Yami looked at him before nodding.

"At least this way I won't always be worried about the next person who's going to try and steal the items."

Ryou frowned as he looked down at the ring on his chest then looked at Akeifa. He slowly took it off and handed it to him. Akeifa blinked slowly taking it. "Are you sure Ryou?" He asked. "It is still yours."

"I'm sure." Ryou said smiling. Bakura glared.

"You had better stay out of my head." He warned.

/But why? It's to much fun to get under your skin./ Akeifa said once the ring was around his neck. Bakura slammed up all his mental walls making Akeifa stumble back.

"Okay, now that's not fair!" Akeifa said shaking his head clearing it from the sudden 'road block' he had run into.

"Are you two going to fight all the time?" Ryou asked.

"Yes"

"No" Both Bakura and Akeifa glared at each other then Akeifa looked at Ryou. "I change my mind. Yes, we probably are." Ryou sighed closing his eyes. He was sure that even if he decided to stay with Yami Yugi and Atemu, or the three blond boys life would be just as crazy no matter where he went.

"Just…don't kill each other okay?" Ryou asked.

"We should call my sister." Malik said looking at Marik.

"What for?"

"Well, she has as many, if not more connections then Seto does. And she was the one that was able to get all the stuff we needed when we escaped from guarding the pharaoh's tomb. She'll be able to get everything that you six need. And then we can think about getting Namu into school." Marik nodded.

"How are you going to explain this to her?" He asked and Malik shrugged.

"Tell her the truth." Malik smiled leaning back in his chair looking up at Marik.

"I'm glad you're back."

"Me too." Marik leaned down and kissed Malik. "It's nice, too be able to do that outside of our soul room." He whispered and then looked at the other six in the room smiling at the way that Akeifa was tormenting Bakura. Those two together were going to be a handful if they ever got along. And Ra forbid Marik should join in, the trouble they would be able to cause. Malik shook his head and looked over at Yami and Atemu who were looking over each other. Where Bakura was more of a shadow of Ryou. Yami looked more like his former self. The only major difference was the fact that Atemu was really tan.

"I think I should spend more time in the sun." Yami said as he looked Atemu over obviously liking what he saw. Yugi shook his head.

"No, because then I'd never tell you two apart!"

"Sure you would." Atemu said grinning. "I have my ears pierced." Yugi sighed shaking his head.

"I don't want to look at your ears whenever I want to find out who I'm talking to. No Yami, no tan." Yugi said again and Malik snickered as Yami actually pouted. Finally Malik looked down at the sleeping Namu. Yes, life was good. They all had their yamis back. And three new additions to their group. Nope, life really didn't get any better then this.

THE END

OMG! OO I…I actually did it…I FINISHED A FANFIC!! LET'S HAVE A PARTY!! - Okay, so it's not that rare that I finish a fanfic….Let's see…if I'll be able to write a sequel, and finish that that's where I start running into trouble But right now I'm open for ideas for the sequel!!


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